The 18 year-old man who was being investigated by police for HIV exposure after his aunt told his former girlfriends he was HIV-positive, has now been charged with 'second-degree recklessly endangering safety', which could result in up to 10 years in prison.
He was released on US$1000 bail following a brief hearing in a Milwaulkee courtroom on the condition that he had no contact with the 18-year-old girl and to advise anyone he has sex with of his medical condition.
The story, from an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, is below.
UPDATE Dec 17th 2008: All charges have now been dropped, according to a report from South Milwaukeenow.com. "Prosecutors decided there wasn't enough evidence to convict Brown, who admits having HIV but denies having sex with the woman."
18-year-old woman says they had unsafe sex
By CROCKER STEPHENSON
Posted: April 22, 2008
An 18-year-old man accused of having unprotected sex with another teen without telling her that he is infected with HIV was charged Tuesday with second-degree recklessly endangering safety, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
According to a complaint, Rick Allen Brown had unprotected intercourse with an 18-year-old woman three times. Brown was living in South Milwaukee with his aunt at the time.
Brown's aunt told the girl she believed Brown was HIV positive, and the girl went to South Milwaukee police.
The girl told police she would not have had sex with Brown if she knew about his medical condition.
In an April 14 phone conversation, a South Milwaukee police officer asked Brown if he was HIV positive.
"Yes, I am," Brown replied, according to the complaint.
Brown said he had known for about 18 months. He denied, however, having sexual intercourse with the young woman.
According to court records filed this month in support of subpoena seeking Brown's medical records, a 16-year-old told police at South Milwaukee High School that she had sexual contact, but not intercourse, with Brown and that he did not tell her about his condition. The same court records indicate that the woman in Tuesday's complaint is 18.
The 16-year-old was not mentioned in Tuesday's complaint.
The human immunodeficiency virus is a life-threatening sexually transmitted disease that can lead to the development of AIDS.
Brown made his initial appearance Tuesday before Court Commissioner Rosa M. Barillas. He is a tall, thin man who appeared all the more lanky dressed in baggy orange jail clothing.
Barillas set a cash bail of $1,000. As conditions of his bail, Barillas ordered Brown to have no contact with the 18-year-old girl and to advise anyone he has sex with of his medical condition.
According to computerized state court records, Brown pleaded no contest in 2006 in Racine County to a misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon. Less than a month later, he pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charges of theft and receiving stolen property.
He was ordered to serve two years of probation. A condition of the probation was that Brown enroll in school.
School officials for the South Milwaukee district didn't respond to requests for interviews Tuesday.
The parent of a sophomore at South Milwaukee High School said he can see why administrators there aren't eager to comment, given that the sexual acts Brown has been accused of did not happen on school grounds.
"Something happened, and it's terrible, but it's not the school's problem," the parent said Tuesday. "The school can't be the police for these individuals. Everybody looks for someone to blame, but the schools can't be responsible for that."
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