A 44 year-old Ohio man, who admitted in court last year that he had been HIV-positive for 17 years and had told no-one but his mother, has now been charged with HIV exposure after a victim's advocate who attended last year's trial told the man's former partner, who then, apparently, complained to the police.
Peter Alaya was released from prison this May, after serving eight months for arson, and then charged in June with HIV exposure.
The details of this case are appalling, but even worse was the way it was reported on local TV's 10 News (there's a link to the video of the report on their webpage, but first you have to watch an inane promo for a cooking show). Part of the report included the following information, which might have been acceptable in the Eighties, but certainly not today!
Delaware County Prosecutor Dave Yost urged anyone who had sexual contact with Ayala to take precaution and seek HIV testing.News report from The Columbus Dispatch is below, followed by the WBNS 10TV report.
"In this kind of case we've got a victim, or more likely, victims who have been given a fatal disease," Yost said. "The human cost of a crime like this is much more extensive."
Ayala worked as a cook at a restaurant in Delaware, but prosecutors said that posed no danger to the community, Bell reported.
Man who hid HIV status charged with assault
Monday, June 30, 2008
By Dana Wilson
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
DELAWARE, Ohio — The secret that authorities say Peter Ayala kept from an ex-girlfriend could land him back in prison.
Ayala, 44, formerly of 351 Lake St. in Delaware, is accused of not telling his former partner that he is HIV-positive. He was charged last month with felonious assault, authorities said today.
Ayala was charged under a state law that makes it felony for a person who has tested positive for HIV to have sex without telling the partner about the disease.
In a court appearance last year in a separate criminal case, Ayala disclosed to a Delaware County judge that he is HIV-positive and that he had not told anyone but his mother for 17 years, said Delaware Police Sgt. John Radabaugh.
A victim's advocate who attended that hearing knew of a woman who had had a relationship with Ayala, and the advocate checked whether the two had been intimate, Radabaugh said. The woman said yes but was unaware that Ayala was HIV-positive.
A grand jury indicted Ayala on June 20. The indictment says that from January through October 2006, he “knowingly engaged in sexual conduct with Jane Doe without disclosing that knowledge.”
Authorities declined today to say whether the woman contracted the virus.
Ayala was convicted of arson in September and sentenced to a year in prison. He was released from the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction on May 30 after serving about eight months.
Authorities urge anyone who had sexual contact with Ayala to seek HIV testing and call Delaware police at xxx-xxx-xxxx.
HIV-Positive Man Charged With Not Informing Sex Partner
Monday, June 30, 2008
DELAWARE, Ohio — Prosecutors on Monday issued a public precaution following the indictment of an HIV-infected man who is accused of failing to inform at least one sexual partner of his condition.
Earlier this month, a grand jury indicted Peter Ayala on five felonious assault charges, 10TV's Patrick Bell reported.
According to the indictment, Ayala, 44, knowingly engaged in sexual conduct with a woman without disclosing to her that he had the HIV virus.
According to prosecutors, Ayala said that he contracted the virus through a blood transfusion. The admission came during an unrelated court hearing in 2007, Bell reported.
The HIV virus can lead to AIDS, which weakens the human immune system and leaves the person susceptible to life-threatening infections.
Delaware County Prosecutor Dave Yost urged anyone who had sexual contact with Ayala to take precaution and seek HIV testing.
"In this kind of case we've got a victim, or more likely, victims who have been given a fatal disease," Yost said. "The human cost of a crime like this is much more extensive."
Ayala worked as a cook at a restaurant in Delaware, but prosecutors said that posed no danger to the community, Bell reported.
Ayala was in custody at the Delaware County Jail awaiting a court date, Bell reported.
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