US: Missouri man charged after 'HIV threats' during arrest

An HIV-positive Missouri man has been charged with "two counts of reckless exposure to HIV" because he "scuffled" with two police officers who were trying to arrest him and shouted at them that he was HIV-positive and "hoped they would catch the virus and die."

The report, from The Columbia Daily Tribune, takes the (non-existent) HIV transmission risk seriously probably because the policeman did.

“This is something we deal with,” [a cop] said. “It is not something that happens every day, thankfully. It’s one of those things that we’re aware of” as a risk.

[The man] was eventually subdued and taken to a local hospital for treatment of injuries. The deputies also went to the hospital to begin treatment to minimize the possible risk of infection.

Unfortunately for the man, Missouri has pretty wide-ranging HIV exposure laws, which state:
"It is also unlawful for a person knowingly infected with HIV to act in a reckless manner by exposing another person to HIV without the knowledge and consent of that person...[by] purposely doing anything else which causes the HIV infected person's semen, vaginal secretions, or blood to come into contact with the mucous membranes or nonintact skin of another person."

It doesn't say anything about empty threats, though. This sounds like a repeat of 2008's Willie Campbell debacle.

US: Another Missouri man charged with HIV exposure

A reader alerted me to this report from KSDK news, about an HIV-positive man from St Charles, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis, who is charged with HIV exposure.

The law in this state is clear, according to St. Charles County Prosecutor Jack Banas:

"Once they get that virus, they have to let other people know who they have some type of relationship with," Banas said.

The report includes a photograph of the man, apparently to help the police trawl for more 'victims'.

St. Charles Man Accused Of Exposing Men & Women To HIV

Created: 2/12/2008 3:59:18 PM

Last updated: 2/12/2008 10:44:45 PM
By Jasmine Huda

A St. Charles man is accused of exposing a woman to the virus that causes AIDS.

Prosecutors said Michael Brian Bergman, 43, had unprotected sex with the woman without telling her he had tested positive for HIV. Authorities said Bergman may have exposed at least five men and women to HIV over the past several weeks.

The sheriff's department is looking for other potential victims.

St. Charles County Prosecutor Jack Banas said state law spells out what is required of anyone who carries HIV.

"Once they get that virus, they have to let other people know who they have some type of relationship with," Banas said.

Bergman and the woman met on the internet and began a relationship in December. He told deputies he cannot control his sexual compulsive behavior.

The woman, who did not want her name disclosed, said she confronted Bergman shortly after reading the emails. She said she was stunned at his response.

"He said, 'Oh, you caught me.' Just with no expression. No remorse, nothing," she said.

Bergman was charged Monday with recklessly risking another person with HIV infection and is jailed on $250,000 bond. If the woman is infected, Bergman could face other charges carrying a possible life sentence.

The woman said she is awaiting results of an HIV test.

US: Missouri man charged with HIV exposure

Man charged with exposing woman to HIV

Posted on Kansascity.com on Sat, Nov. 10, 2007 07:59 PM

Kansas City police charged a man Saturday with knowingly exposing a woman to HIV.

Calvin Williams, 33, allegedly first spoke to the 37-year-old female victim when she called a telephone chat line in February. According to police records, Williams told her during that discussion that he was disease-free, and they met up and talked in person that night.

The next day, Williams called her, telling her that he wanted to come over to her house. The victim then picked him up and took him back to her home in Kansas City. That night she had unprotected consensual sex with him, and she continued to do so over the next several days. He never told her that he had HIV, the victim said.

Over the next couple months, the victim said she learned she had HIV when she became sick and was later hospitalized. She filed charges against Williams on Sept. 25.

When detectives questioned Williams at his home about the charges last month, he denied using a chat line in February or ever meeting the victim, though he did say he met another woman on a chat line three weeks earlier and that he had HIV. Medical records show that he tested positive for in 1991.

Williams was being held in jail on a $100,000 bond.

From Kansas City Star

US: Missouri woman sentenced to 10 years for HIV exposure

Missouri must have some of the most draconian laws imaginable in the developed world against HIV-positive people.

A 27 year-old woman was sentenced to ten years in prison for HIV exposure, after her mother reported to her police. The 'victim' was a 42 year-old man.

To get an idea of how people think in this State, see the comments on this blog entry (stigma warning!)

The whole sorry story, from the AP, is below.

Woman with HIV gets 10-year term for having unprotected sex
Associated Press - October 18, 2007

ST. CHARLES, Mo. - An HIV-positive, eastern Missouri woman who had unprotected sex with her then-boyfriend was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison.

Angela Harris, 27, of St. Charles, pleaded guilty in September to two counts of knowingly and recklessly risking infection of another person with HIV. She could be eligible for parole in four years.

Harris was arrested in February 2006, not long after the boyfriend learned of her infection from Harris' mother.

The mother told police that her daughter had sex with as many as 100 people in the previous four to five years. Harris told authorities the number of sex partners was in the 20-50 range.

The former boyfriend also has tested negative for HIV, prosecutors said. Harris could have faced up to life in prison.

Harris' lawyer, Deborah Alessi, said Harris had not wanted to engage in sex with her partner until they were in a committed relationship and had said he should use protection.

Even so, Harris was remorseful that she had not disclosed her HIV-positive status, Alessi said.

A prosecutor in St. Charles County, Dulany Harms, said Harris' behavior was reckless, and that she was required by law to notify a partner of her HIV status.

Each count carried the potential sentence of between five and 15 years in prison.