US: Arkansas man accused of HIV exposure not HIV-positive despite confession

A 41 year-old man in El Dorado, Arkansas, appears to have admitted under police questioning that he was HIV-positive after being arrrested in September for allegedly having unprotected without disclosing his HIV status.

However, a brief report from the police log of the El Dorado News-Times notes that the man was, in fact, HIV-negative, something he'd maintained during his arrest.

One can only wonder what went on during his time being questioned by police that could have made this man confess to something that wasn't true, and why he was arrested in the first place.

Charges will not be filed against an El Dorado man who was arrested on Sept. 17 for knowingly/willfully exposing another person to HIV. Police said an investigation determined that [name of accused] 41, does not have HIV. According to an affidavit for warrant of arrest, [he] initially told officers he was not HIV-infected, but upon further questioning, he said he had the virus. Police said testing and a review of [his] medical records led to the charge being dropped.

US: 'It's Criminal', says POZ magazine; my HIV exposure round-up proves it is!

The October issue of POZ magazine is just out, and their cover story is about the criminalisation of HIV non-disclosure.

It's a timely reminder that the US prosecutes more HIV-positive individuals than any other country in the world. They go after us not only for allegedly not disclosing our HIV status before sex but also for just being HIV-positive and having sex or doing other things that are so low on the scale of HIV transmission risks that criminal law involvement becomes a stigmatising over-reaction.

In fact, over the summer months I've been so overwhelmed with news reports of prosecutions from the States, that I've had something of a backlog. So, here's a summary of what's been happening in August and September.

• August 14th: In Ocala, Florida, a 39 year-old woman was arrested for not disclosing her HIV status. The complainant was a 58 year-old man who had sex with her once, according to Ocala.com.
• August 21st: In Palm Beach, Florida a 32 year-old woman was arrested for "committing prostitution while HIV-positive, a third-degree felony which can result in up to five years in prison", according to The Palm Beach Post.
• August 27th: In Oklahoma City, a 40 year-old man was arrested following a complaint from another man for not disclosing his HIV status before oral sex. He was charged with "knowingly engaging in conduct reasonably likely to transfer HIV", according to newsOK.com.
• September 3rd: In Memphis, Tennessee, a burglary suspect was charged with criminal HIV exposure after he "he spit blood in the officer’s face and said that he was HIV-positive" during his arrest, according to myeyewitnessnews.com.
• September 11th: In Florence, South Carolina, a 35 year-old was arrested for HIV exposure after a complainant went to police (sex of both individuals unknown). "A person who violates this law is guilty of a felony, and upon conviction, can be fined up to $5,000 or serve up to 10 years in jail," according to WMBFnews.com.
• September 11th: In Dayton, Ohio a 25 year-old "male prostitute is facing felony soliciting and prostitution charges after he was picked up by an undercover cop working as part of a prostitution sting," reports the Dayton Daily News. His name, face and HIV status was also published.
  
• September 17th: In Fort Smith, Arkansas, a 33 year-old man "charged with knowingly exposing a person to HIV is also the lone suspect in a 2002 homicide in North Carolina", reports the Times Record. The 2002 murder allegedly took place after the female victim discovered the man's HIV status and threatened charges.
• September 21st: In Mattoon, Illinois a 42 year-old man faces HIV exposure charges after a 19 year-old woman complained to police that "he engaged in sex with her, knowing he was HIV positive", reports the Journal-Gazette Times-Courier.
  

Admittedly, the Arkansas case does warrant some criminal justice system investigation (if only to finally prove or disprove these 2002 allegations). It is also the only one where the complainant is acually HIV-positive. I have a feeling we'll be hearing a lot more about this case if and when it goes to trial!

Back to the POZ piece. Page 1 features an overview of US laws; why POZ believes they are wrong and out-of-date; and what HIV-positive individuals can do to protect themselves from prosecution.

If you can get a person to indicate that you have made it perfectly clear that you have HIV, and do so in front of a witness, such proof of disclosure may hold up in court. But unfortunately, many states do not define what constitutes “informed consent.”

[...]

Of course, it is also a good idea to use a condom. While not a legal defense in some states, condoms reduce the risk of spreading HIV. Historically, fewer people have been prosecuted for nondisclosure prior to sex when a condom was used.

Most important, the HIV community must lobby local, state and federal government officials and lawmakers to rewrite (or better yet, abolish) the laws that criminalize HIV transmission. Contact your mayor, your congress people, your state senators and their staff. Educate them about HIV risks and transmission, and hold their feet to the fire to ensure that all people living with HIV are not unfairly punished.

Page 2 features "comments posted on POZ.com by readers in response to various news stories and opinion pieces on the subject of criminalizing people living with HIV."

Page 3 has an excellent interview by Regan Hoffman with Catherine Hanssens, executive director of The Center for HIV Law and Policy. Highlights include:

"It’s hard to think of any disease or context in which someone would be put away for 20 years for what is basically an act of consensual sex where no one has been harmed. But the reporting in the mainstream press [about these cases] is informed by huge misunderstandings about how HIV is transmitted and a lot of ignorance about whom HIV affects and what drives the epidemic."

"The things that you would want to do to protect yourself and your partner are not necessarily the things that are going to be rewarded in the courtroom. There is a disincentive to disclose because proof is a difficult thing."

"Disclosure is not the equivalent of latex... The thing that stops transmission is latex, not words."

"The notion that we need a whole other set of standards and separate laws [to prosecute the nondisclosure of HIV] reveals that it’s not the intent to harm that results in a lot of prosecutions, but rather the ignorance about how transmissible HIV is and a revulsion for people who are affected by HIV."

Couldn't have said it better myself!

US: Arkansas man accused of HIV exposure, under-age rape

A 29 year-old HIV-positive man from Little Rock, Arkansas has been arrested for allegedly raping a boy (age unknown) and exposing him to HIV.

According to a short report on local TV station website, Fox16.com, the man is alleged to have "touched him inappropriately...[knowing] he was HIV positive and still exposed the boy to his disease."

There is, of course, no defence to sexual child abuse. However, one wonders if there was any risk of HIV exposure from touching "inappropriately"?

Anyway, I'm reporting this mainly because of what prosecuting attorney Larry Jegley is quoted as saying.

"When they come along particularly in context of a child, it's extremely disturbing and gets the anger factor working quite frankly among my people here when we get those cases."

By "they" is he referring to rape, HIV exposure, rape and HIV exposure, or simply people living with HIV? Perhaps when it comes to his court date we'll actually know whether the man's HIV status truly is relevent here.

US: Arkansas high school student arrested for HIV exposure

A 17 year-old high school student has been arrested under Arkansas's HIV disclosure law for having unprotected sex with a fellow student and not disclosing to her that he was HIV-positive.

According to the Benton County Daily Record, the teenager, who was arrested on April 6th, admitted to the arresting officer that he was HIV-positive, did not disclose this to the girl, and did not wear a condom while having sex with her.

However, he pleaded not guilty during his May 19th arraignment, during which he was charged as an adult, and faces up to 30 years in prison if he is found guilty. His next hearing is on July 6th. It is not clear whether or not he remains in custody.

According to another report, on 4020tv.com (a local TV station's website), the two allegedly had sex in the school toilets.

Police Chief James Allen told us the sexual contact occurred while the two were attending Bentonville High School. Principal Kim Garrett said school employees routinely patrol the halls and bathrooms to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen. Garrett said, “We have cameras on the outside of restrooms so that we can see who is going in and we can track how long a person would be in case we were concerned about a student at that point.”

I have grave concerns about this case. Why is he being tried as an adult, when in Arkansas you are not considered to be adult until 18? How long had the boy known his HIV status and had he been told about the legal issues? Does the school have a duty of care to both of the parties?

In the UK, the Terrence Higgins Trust and the National Children's Bureau is lobbying the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to clarify guidelines for charging young people under criminal HIV transmission laws.

"We feel it is inappropriate to consider criminal law as the first port of call for young people in this situation, certainly for a teenager coming to terms with both their sexuality and their virus," says THT's Lisa Power. "Growing up with HIV is terrifying enough for a young person but to be told you could be jailed if you get something wrong makes it even worse. A lot of young people with HIV have quite a problematic relationship with the virus. There are some parents who don't tell their children what they have got - they may simply say they have a blood disorder."

Update: Sept 22

Benton County Circuit Judge Robin Green has reduced the boy's bail from $50,000 to $10,000, according to a report on nwaonline.com. He is charged with four counts of felony exposing another person to HIV. If he makes bail, he must be given a home-monitoring device and report regularly to a probation officer. He returns to court on November 9th for a mental status hearing.

Update: Dec 5

The boy has been "arrested again, after police say he knowingly exposed a fifth girl to HIV through sexual contact," according to local TV news station, KSFM. A hearing will be held on December 21 to determine whether the boy, now 18, should be tried as a juvenile or an adult.

US: Arkansas man gets 12 years for HIV exposure; faces up to 30

A 33 year-old Arkansas man who pleaded guilty to HIV exposure has been sentenced to 12 years in prison...and faces similar charges in another Arkansas county.

This is totally outrageous! I'm so appalled that anyone can be sent to prison for HIV exposure, but this prison term is the longest I have ever seen for HIV exposure where there was just one complainant in the United States, and, according to the report in the Northwest Arkansas Morning News, he may be sentenced for up to 30 years for the second complainaint.

Criminalising HIV exposure potentially criminalises all HIV-positive individuals. Forcing people to disclose their HIV status before sex that may potentially expose someone to HIV (and it is not clear what that means in the era of potent anti-HIV drugs that may mean most HIV-positive people are uninfectious) makes no sense from a scientific, logical, and – dare I say – even moral point of view. Laws forcing HIV-positive people to disclose before unprotected sex do not work, and do more harm than good.

Man Gets Prison Term For Exposing Woman To HIV

By Ron Wood
The Morning News

FAYETTEVILLE - An HIV-positive man who didn't tell his girlfriend he had the condition was sentenced to 12 years in prison Thursday.

After Thursday morning's guilty plea and sentencing in Washington County Circuit Court, Mark Alonzo Hunter was headed to Little Rock to plead guilty to the same charge, but with a different victim, in Pulaski County, according to Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Bill Jones.

Neither of the women contracted HIV despite their long-term relationship with Hunter, Jones said.

Hunter, 33, of Washington, D.C., was also ordered to pay a $250 fee and provide a DNA sample, pay another $250 fee and register as a sex offender and have no contact with the woman.

Hunter faced up to 30 years at the Arkansas Department of Correction on the charge of exposing another person to HIV.

Court documents said Hunter has hemophilia and got HIV through a blood transfusion when he was 7 years old. He attended the University of Arkansas, where he met at least one of the women

US: Arkansas man charged with HIV exposure, rape

An Arkansas man has pleaded not guilty to charges related to allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl and exposing her to HIV. His trial is set for February 28th.

Full story from Northwest Arkansas Times below.

Fayetteville man pleads innocent to charges of rape, exposing girl to HIV

Northwest Arkansas Times

Posted on Thursday, December 27, 2007

URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/News/60634/

A Fayetteville man pleaded innocent Wednesday to charges related to allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl and exposing her to HIV last month.

Kevy Matthew Gilmore, 42, of 612 Betty Jo Drive faces one count each of rape and exposing another person to HIV. Gilmore is being held in the Washington County Detention Center on $ 50, 000 bond. His trial is set for Feb. 28 in Washington County Circuit Court.

The rape allegedly occurred on Nov. 25, according to felony information filed Friday in Washington County Circuit Court. The charge information alleges Gilmore knew he had tested positive for HIV before raping the girl.

Gilmore was living with the girl’s family when the crime allegedly occurred. He was reported by the victim’s guardians and brought in for questioning by Fayetteville police.

The accuser told officers Gilmore came into her bedroom while she was still sleeping and raped her. During an interview with police, Gilmore first denied having sexual contact with the victim, but later said it was consensual, the report stated.

The report stated Gilmore told officers he originally lied because he knew she was 13 and he didn’t want to get in trouble.