Sentencing
July 19, 2026
Source:
The Arkansas Insider
A 27-year-old Little Rock man has been sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to exposing a sexual partner to HIV without informing them of his diagnosis.
According to court records, the man admitted to the Class A felony charge as part of a plea agreement that was accepted by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Karen Whatley. Brown, who was classified as a habitual offender with at least four prior felony convictions, faced a possible prison sentence ranging from six to 60 years.
Investigators said the victim, who had known him since high school, reported the incident to Little Rock police in October 2024. The victim told officers the two had a sexual relationship after asking the defendant whether he had any sexually transmitted diseases. According to the report, he said he did not.
A short time later, the victim learned through a mutual acquaintance that the defendant was HIV-positive. The victim was tested the following day and received a positive HIV diagnosis. Police said the defendant denied having HIV when confronted, agreed to get tested with the victim, but never followed through. Investigators said he later stopped communicating and blocked the victim on social media.
The victim told police the defendant was the last person he had been intimate with before testing positive and said he had previously tested negative during routine screenings.
Detectives later confirmed through the Arkansas Department of Health that the defendant had been diagnosed with HIV since November 2019 and had been prescribed medication for the virus. He was arrested in December 2024.
Court records also show he was on probation at the time of his arrest for previous felony convictions related to a 2019 Little Rock shooting in which multiple people, including four children, were inside a pickup truck when gunfire was fired into the vehicle. No one was injured in that incident.
