Man found guilty of raping an American backpacker in his Sydney flat while she slept.

A man has been found guilty of raping an American backpacker who was asleep in the living room of his Sydney flat after ‘impromptu’ party last Summer.

Scott Harry Richardson, 25, denies raping the woman at his Redfern home on December 12, 2015, but the NSW District Court has rejected his version of events, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

When giving evidence last week, Richardson said he believed the “mass” asleep on his couch in the early hours of the morning was a friend of his, so he jumped on top of it.

“I thought it was my friend James,” he told the jury during the two-week trial.

“I realised by the size of the person it wasn’t my friend James. I got off and said ‘sorry’ and left.”

The court heard that Richardson had hosted a number of people in his home that evening, where they played games, talked, drank and admired the view from his rooftop.

The young woman, who can not be identified, had recently arrived in Australia on a working holiday visa and was invited to the party by her new boyfriend.

She told police she woke to find a man on top of her.

He then removed her underwear and raped her twice.

"She pushed the person away and said 'stop'," Crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield said.

The jury heard she then ran upstairs and told her boyfriend she had been "violated".

Others in the flat could hear her yelling: "I can't believe this happened. I was raped", and that she was "literally just sleeping".

The woman described her attacker as having black hair and wearing a white shirt.

When she entered Richardson room she found him asleep next to his girlfriend with a white shirt discarded on the floor next to the bed.

Richards has been found guilty of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent and will be sentenced in February.

If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.