A former Canadian soldier has been found not guilty of sexual assault because a court ruled he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from a deployment in Bosnia 10 years earlier.

Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench Justice Nathan Nurgitz found Roger Borsch, 34, not guilty by reason of mental disorder.

Borsch was on trial on charges of confining and sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl after breaking into her home in The Pas, Manitoba in 2004.

Borsch did not deny the Crown's allegation that the incident took place.

But what Borsch has always denied is having any recollection the incident ever happened.

Borsch testified he only remembers waking up hours after the incident in a canoe with no paddles on the Saskatchewan River.

His lawyer argued that Borsch was traumatized by time he spent with the Canadian Forces serving in Bosnia and was in a type of shock and did not know what he was doing.

"His memory is patchy,'' defence lawyer Jason Miller told reporters outside the court, according to The Canadian Press.

"He doesn't even remember being in the police station, where he apparently ... went into shock.''

The judge said Thursday that expert witnesses testified Borsch exhibited symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder before the attack took place.

He ruled the Crown's witnesses lacked experience in dealing with military people who suffer from the disorder.

Though other former military personnel have attempted to use the same defence, Borsch is thought to be the first to do it successfully.

Prosecutor Don Knight said he is considering whether to appeal, and was concerned that the ruling may set a dangerous precedent.

"It certainly puts you on that slippery slope. Everybody could start to allege that,'' he said.

In an earlier court appearance, Borsch testified that he had no memory of the alleged incident and remembers nothing after leaving a party at another house earlier in the day.

"The next thing I remember, I woke up in the middle of a river in a canoe,'' Borsch testified.

"I looked around and tried to figure out where I was.''

Borsch also testified about atrocities he witnessed during his stint in Bosnia.

He claimed he saw a young girl killed by a landmine and testified he had killed several people, including a Bosnian soldier who was raping a young girl.

Though his court case has been dismissed, a psychiatric panel will review Borsch's case to determine whether treatment is necessary or he should be set free.

His mother told the court Borsch came back from a six-month tour in Bosnia in 1994 depressed, withdrawn and often unable to sleep.

"He didn't smile, he didn't frown . . . he didn't seem to be interested in anything,'' Barbara Borsch said.

"He was just a totally different man.''

After returning from Bosnia, Borsch moved between Calgary, Edmonton and The Pas, where he eventually landed a job as a jail guard.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is expected to see close to 20,000 new cases of post-traumatic stress this year among soldiers who served in Iraq or Afghanistan, according to a report in Knight Ridder Newspapers.

The department had anticipated seeing only 2,900 new cases in the 2006 fiscal year, which runs from Oct. 1, 2005, to Sept. 30, 2006.

The illness has been cited as a cause of drug addiction and homelessness, among other social problems.

With files from The Canadian Press