A 24 year-old migrant has been arrested in a suburb of Toronto accused of aggravated sexual assault because he did not disclose his HIV status to a 21 year-old woman with whom he had consensual sex earlier in the year.
Although bloggers suggest the man is from Ethiopia, this is not clear in the Canadian reports, of which the one from CityNews is typical, which appear to be based on a police press release ‘fishing’ for more complainants.
Man Accused Of Knowingly Spreading HIV To Woman
Tuesday June 24, 2008
CityNews.ca StaffA 24-year-old Brampton man is charged in a terrible case of aggravated sexual assault. But it’s what police say Yonatan Gezahegne Mekonnen didn’t tell his alleged 21-year-old victim that has cops worried.
Police contend the couple engaged in consensual sex back in January and February of this year, and that the accused was well aware that he was HIV positive at the time of the encounters – but never told the woman.
They accuse him of exposing her to the disease despite knowing he could easily pass it on to her – and by extension anyone else she may have been seeing. He was arrested on Thursday on two counts of aggravated sexual assault and made a court appearance last Friday.
But now cops are worried that other young women may have fallen under his spell and been exposed to the dangerous virus. They’re looking to speak to anyone who has had contact with Mekonnen in more than a casual way.
If you think you may have crossed his path, call the Peel Police Special Victims Unit at xxx-xxx-xxx or anonymously to Crime Stoppers at xxx-xxx-xxx.