Man accused of touching passed-out woman

Jerrid L. Sullivan is accused of touching a woman while she was asleep and then fighting with a man who told him to leave.

Sullivan, born in 1988, is charged with aggravated burglary, sexual assault, assault and criminal trespass to property. He is scheduled to appear in state District Court and plead guilty or not guilty to the charges May 16 at 1:30 p.m. He has been released to stay at a Harlem address until further case developments.

According to charging documents, Havre Police Department officers responded to a disturbance early morning April 3.

Files say an officer walked through the partially opened door of the apartment and found a woman telling Sullivan to stop. The officer announced himself and told Sullivan to get on the ground. Sullivan obeyed immediately.

The woman told one of the officers, as Sullivan was being handcuffed, that Sullivan was “trying to touch her friend in her sleep.” At that point, court documents say, Sullivan, who was still on the ground, detained, yelled “what is wrong with me?” and “I can’t help it.”

Another man came from a bedroom in the back of the apartment. Court documents say he had blood on his face, was “highly agitated” and hurled “several profanities” at Sullivan.

Charging documents say Sullivan, who was then taken to a patrol car, said to an officer, “I tried to take sexual advantage of her.”

Sullivan told the officer he began drinking liquor at a bar and continued doing so at an after party. He then ended up at the apartment of the incident, drunk and having been “unable to satisfy his sexual endeavors," files say.

Sullivan said the man who yelled at him was rightful to defend the woman Sullivan admitted to have “copped a feel” off of, files say. Sullivan told the officer he told the man to “punish” him for what he had done by hitting him. The man initially refused, but did so after Sullivan took two steps toward him, causing the man to feel threatened, documents say.

Sullivan said his “animal instincts” kicked in and he hit the man back.

The other man was observed to have blood on his chin and a split lower lip. Files say a “physical injury” to Sullivan was observed.

The man with whom Sullivan allegedly swapped blows told officers Sullivan was sleeping on a chair and he and the woman Sullivan admitted to touching were asleep on the couch. Charging documents say the man said Sullivan “got up and started touching the girl sleeping on the couch.”

The fight was triggered after the man said he asked Sullivan to leave, and he refused. On top of the blows thrown by both men, the man said he also threw a pot of mashed potatoes at Sullivan to get him to stop coming toward him.

The woman who was allegedly touched said she did not remember if Sullivan did so because she was sleeping. The document says she was not charged with a charge of minor in possession — she said she was 19 — because she had been the victim of sexual assault.

The other woman confirmed most of what Sullivan and the man had said, adding that she didn’t see any punches thrown between Sullivan and the man.

An officer spoke to Sullivan the next day at the Hill County Detention Center.

Sullivan told the officer he believed he tried to “advance on the girl,” referring to the one on the couch, when he was “too far gone.” He said the other man confronted him, at which point he stopped touching the woman.

Sullivan reiterated most of what he said at the scene the previous day.

A document indicates Sullivan was released April 18. The conditions of release include that he is to abide by the curfew rules, he is not allowed to own a firearm, not allowed to drink alcohol or enter any establishment that serves alcohol, that he is to seek employment and not have any contact with any of the people in this case.

The office of public defender has not responded by deadline to the question of whether Sullivan has any history of mental instability.