A North Carolina man has received a nine month jail term after pleading guilty to HIV exposure in neighbouring Virginia.
Interestingly, the female complainant remained in a relationship with the man after she discovered his HIV status, having protected sex with him for another four months, before the relationship went sour. It was only then she went to the police.
This is surely a rather blatant example of how HIV exposure laws are being used by disgruntled exes to get back at their former love when things go sour.
The full story, from The Free-Lance Star, is below.In late July or early August, the victim said she learned from a friend of Johnson's that he was HIV-positive. When she confronted him, he admitted it.
The woman said that when she asked Johnson why he didn't tell her, Johnson replied, "I really love you and I didn't want to lose you."The woman said she continued having sex with Johnson after learning of his condition, but it was protected sex.
The relationship ended in November, when Johnson was arrested following a domestic altercation with the victim. The woman did not contract the virus.
Keeping HIV secret lands man in jail
March 27, 2008 12:15 am
BY KEITH EPPS
A North Carolina man was ordered to serve nine months in jail for not telling his girlfriend he was HIV-positive before having unprotected sex with her.
Robert Earl Johnson, 42, of Washington, N.C., pleaded guilty to two counts of infected sexual battery and assault and battery yesterday in Stafford Circuit Court.
The two charges of infected sexual battery were reduced from felonies to misdemeanors.
Johnson should be released soon. He has been in jail since November, and inmates convicted of misdemeanors generally have to serve only about half of their sentences.
The victim, a Stafford woman, testified at a preliminary hearing that she met Johnson in September 2006 while visiting in North Carolina.
The two began a relationship that soon became intimate.
The woman said she had unprotected sex a number of times in Stafford between April and August of last year when Johnson would visit her for weeks at a time.
In late July or early August, the victim said she learned from a friend of Johnson's that he was HIV-positive. When she confronted him, he admitted it.
The woman said that when she asked Johnson why he didn't tell her, Johnson replied, "I really love you and I didn't want to lose you."
The woman said she continued having sex with Johnson after learning of his condition, but it was protected sex.
The relationship ended in November, when Johnson was arrested following a domestic altercation with the victim. The woman did not contract the virus.
Prosecutor Eric Olsen said he agreed to reduce the charges to misdemeanors because otherwise he would have had to prove that Johnson intended to infect the woman.
Attorney Vanessa Jordan represented Johnson.
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