HIV Transmission Case Ends in Acquittal in Naples
He was accused of being a ‘spreader’, of having knowingly transmitted the HIV virus through unprotected intercourse with his wife (currently undergoing treatment) and also with a friend of his wife, who instead died of AIDS in November 2017.
The trial in the Court of Assizes in Naples against a 65-year-old man from Ischia, charged with voluntary manslaughter with eventual intent, ended with an acquittal – with the formula ‘because the fact does not constitute a crime.’
The reasons for the judges’ decision will be made known in 45 days, but according to some parties involved, it seems the verdict is linked to the lack of intent: essentially, the man may have spread HIV but without being aware of it.
The Prosecutor’s Office of Naples, however, holds a completely different view, believing that Conte was fully aware of his health status and, by having unprotected sex with his partners—one of whom was allegedly also raped—he deliberately spread the virus.
On March 11, during the closing arguments, the public prosecutor requested a 24-year sentence and showed moving video testimonies from the victim, a Polish woman who came to Italy for work and was visibly afflicted by the disease. In the videos, she described from a hospital bed, with great difficulty, her sad story as an immigrant from Poland and the sexual violence she suffered.
The accused was initially charged with sexual violence against his wife’s friend, who was also abused and died at the age of 37 on November 3, 2017, as well as with assault against his wife.
However, both crimes have since expired due to the statute of limitations. “I remember the first time, he punched me and raped me,” the victim said in one of the videos. “It happened about ten times. Then he threatened to kill me if I spoke, so I stayed silent.”
During the closing argument, the public prosecutor specified that the 37-year-old Polish woman—a former caregiver and waitress—decided not to reveal what was happening to her “because of her economic vulnerability.” She had arrived in Italy in 2000 for occasional work and, thanks to the accused’s wife, her friend, managed to obtain a residence permit and a regularly paid job as a waitress in a hotel on the island of Ischia.
