Man gets five years for infecting ex-wife with HIV
POSTED March 13, 2009 - 18:20 | POSTED BY Mika Abad
Last edited by Harpreet Bhagrath on March 13, 2009 - 20:07
Melbourne, March 13: An Australian man was sentenced to five years in jail on Friday for infecting his ex-wife with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIVdefine), and lying about it.
Victorian County Court Judge Thomas Wodak sentenced the 39-year-old man to five years in jail with a minimum of three years before he could apply for parole after he pleaded guilty to one count of reckless conduct endangering life. The man admitted to repeatedly having unprotected sex in 1996 with his then wife for three consecutive months, despite knowing the fact that he is infected with HIVdefine.
Judge Wodak said, "You [the man] acted with gross irresponsibility and selfishness. I am satisfied that you must have been aware of the consequences. The most likely explanation for your conduct is that you put your own feelings and needs ahead of responsibility, decency and concern for (your wife's) wellbeing. Your conduct represents a shocking example of a serious offence."
The man who was diagnosed with hemophilia obtained HIV through a blood transfusion in 1984 when he was only 15-year-old. His wife discovered that she was positive for the virus in March 1996 and was concerned that she must have transmitted the virus to his husband, thus encouraging him to get tested as well. It was only this time that the man confessed to his wife that he was already positive for the virus.
Despite admitting that he tested positive for HIV, the man still lied to his wife saying that he must have acquired the virus through a former South African girlfriend. It was only after a year that the man revealed that he obtained the virus from a blood transfusion more than ten years earlier.
The man stated that he only lied in order to keep his wife from leaving him. The couple was married in 2001 and was separated in 2007.
The woman, who now has AIDS, revealed that her health has severely deteriorated. In a statement she presented to the court, she said, "My life has been changed beyond recognition due to this crime. Every choice has been taken away.
“I'm unemployable. I can't have children due to my health and associated risks. I need help for everything, to fill in forms, attend medical appointments, pay bills. I cannot even sign my name."
