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Friday 27 March 2009

Canada: Quebec man gets nine years for sexually assaulting girl

An HIV-positive Quebec man has been sentenced to nine years in prison for sexually assaulting a girl over a period of two years, starting when she was just 12.

According to the report in the Winnipeg Free Press:

The girl's first HIV test was negative, but the 15-year-old girl is still terrorized and refuses to get tested again or get therapy.

It seems that he was charged with aggravated sexual assault, which carries longer minimum and maximum sentences than sexual assault. The difference is his HIV status, which Canadian law sees as an aggravating factor because, according to Section 273 of Criminal Code, he has "endanger[ed] the life of the complainant." Has he endangered her life if she turns out to be HIV-negative?

I think in this case, it doesn't matter. Since it appears, at least from the brief report, that the man's HIV status was an aggravating factor, in that she has been so traumatised that she refuses to be re-tested which could harm her future health, I fully support the man's prosecution for aggravated sexual assault.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can't agree with the aggravated sexual assault conviction. The act(s) were deplorable and the victim traumatized. But here is the problem Aggravated Sexual Assault had (until HIV) been Assault with a weapon. Add further into this the fact that the victim was exposed at the very least to HIV, and she now has a legal obligation to inform her sex partners, the Supreme Court said here that not being aware of an HIV+ result would not be a defense if it could be shown that a reasonable person would question there status.

How's that for victimizing this person even more?

This man deserves to spend a very long time in jail, but not because of his HIV status, instead because he sexually assaulted this individual. HIV has no relevance.

FM

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