Toronto man who allegedly failed to disclose HIV status is facing new charges
Eight new victims come forward after Toronto man allegedly fails to disclose HIV status
A 27-year-old man is facing several new charges after he allegedly had intimate relationships with multiple men over the course of six years and, in each case, failed to tell them that he was HIV positive.
According to police, the suspect was diagnosed with the disease in February of 2011, and in July of 2011, he met a 24-year-old man through an online classified personal ad.
It’s alleged the two began an intimate relationship and that the suspect did not disclose that he was HIV positive.
In December of 2016, police say the same man met a 21-year-old man through an online dating website and the two also began an intimate relationship. The victim told police that the suspect did not tell him about his HIV status.
Since then, police say eight other people have come forward with allegations pertaining to the same man.
The new incidents trace back to December of 2011 through to March 2017.
During this time, police allege the man had an intimate relationship with eight different men – all ranging between 18 and 28 years old.
In each case, police say he failed to tell his partners that has HIV.
A suspect identified as Toronto resident X has been charged with eight additional counts of aggravated sexual assault
He was previously charged with two counts of aggravated sexual assault in April and June, respectively.
Police are concerned there may be other victims. They say X also is known to go by the names ‘AX’ and ‘AM.’
Anyone with new information is being asked to call police or Crime Stoppers.
New charge laid against Toronto man who police allege did not disclose HIV status
An additional charge has been laid against a 27-year-old Toronto man who police allege failed to disclose to at least two of his partners that he was HIV positive.
According to investigators, the suspect was diagnosed with HIV in February 2011 and in July 2011, he met a 24-year-old man through a personal ad on an online classified site.
The pair, police allege, engaged in an intimate relationship.
According to police, the suspect did not disclose that he was HIV positive and the 24-year-old man was subsequently diagnosed with the virus.
The suspect, identified by police as 27-year-old X, was arrested and charged with aggravated sexual assault on April 10, 2017.
Upon further investigation, police say they discovered that a 21-year-old man also contracted HIV sometime after having an intimate encounter with Al Safi.
Police say X met the 21-year-old man in December 2016 through a dating website and also did not inform his partner about his HIV status.
X was arrested on June 19, 2017 and charged with an additional count of aggravated sexual assault.
He appeared in court on Monday.
Toronto man charged for HIV non-disclosure and faces rare court order to disclose he has the virus
Police say an investigation into the conduct of X continues. Toronto’s associate medical officer of health says order necessary to “decrease or eliminate the risk to health presented by the communicable disease.”
An HIV-positive Toronto man faces both a serious criminal charge and a rare court order to use condoms and inform sexual partners he has the virus.
X is accused of aggravated assault related to non-disclosure of his HIV status, Toronto police confirmed Friday, and the investigation remains “very live” with details to be made public in coming days.
The charge comes amid controversy over the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure and an ongoing provincial-federal review of provisions that can see people convicted and jailed even if no infection occurs.
Wayne Cunningham, X’s lawyer, had no comment on the charge, or on a Superior Court judge’s order issued Wednesday in response to a request from Dr. Rita Shahin, Toronto’s associate medical officer of health.
Shahin said in written responses to the Star’s questions that it is only the third such Toronto order in more than 20 years granted by a court under section 102 of Ontario’s Health Protection and Promotion Act.
Court action is rarely required because the vast majority of people with HIV take steps on their own to significantly reduce or eliminate the risk of transmission through sex or drug use, she said, and almost all the exceptions comply with orders to take precautions issued by the Medical Officer of Health.
Court documents state X’s HIV status was reported to public health in February 2011 and that, three years later, a nurse at the city agency counseled him about failing to disclose to sexual partners that he has the treatable but incurable disease which can lead to Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome.
X was counseled by another public health nurse in 2016, the document states, when someone identified him as a “contact of HIV.” He was reminded that in 2014 public health ordered him to inform his partners and of the importance of him having “consistent medical care.” He indicated then he was taking no medicine, the order states.
