HIV-infected man jailed for unprotected sex
A 20-year-old man from Malmö in southern Sweden was sentenced to eight months in prison on Wednesday for not telling eight women that he was infected with HIV before having sex with them. The man, who denies committing any crimes, was convicted by the Malmö District Court of reckless endangerment (framkallande av fara för annan).
The 20-year-old has been previously brought to the attention of the Skåne region’s Centre for Communicable Disease Control (Smittskydd Skåne), for neglecting his regular contact with the hospital, and for having had unprotected sex with his girlfriend for two and half years without informing her about his condition. She reported him to the police in December, 2010. Ensuing media reports about the incident resulted in seven other women coming forward too, affirming their own sexual relations with the man.
In an interview with Sweden’s TV4, the man’s ex-girlfriend claimed to have been told, “No, I don’t have HIV. You don’t need to worry, they’re just rumours.” The man has been infected with HIV since birth and had been wanted by police since July 2011 when a court ruled he should be placed in isolation. The man turned himself in to police upon learning that TV3 planned to publish his photograph in October 2011 on the channel’s “Efterlyst” (‘Wanted’) programme.
The convicted man will be forced to pay a total of 220,000 kronor ($32,620) to the eight women, none of whom was infected with the disease. The alleged crimes were committed in Malmo, Tomelilla, Eslöv and Bunkeflostrand between the autumn of 2008 and the summer of 2011. Most of the victims were in their late teens at the time. The court says the sentence is light due to the man’s young age at the time of the crimes.
