The first ever successful prosecution for HIV exposure in Minnesota ended with a 90 day prison sentence for X, 39. X, who is living with HIV and hepatitis C, was sentenced today after pleading guilty last month.
The complainant, Debra Jean Miller, 50, who has tested negative for both HIV and hepatitis since their short-lived relationship last October/November 2008, went public today in an article in the Duluth News Tribune in which she reveals that “she is undergoing weekly therapy for anxiety.”
Duluth man with HIV accused of having unprotected sex
A Duluth man diagnosed with the AIDS virus has been charged with knowingly transferring a communicable disease to his former girlfriend. It’s believed to be the first such case charged in the city.
X, 39, who according to medical records is infected with HIV, is accused of “intentionally inflicting or attempting to inflict bodily harm upon another by knowingly harboring an infectious agent and committing the act of sexual penetration with another person without having first informed the other person that the person has a communicable disease.”
The misdemeanor charge is being prosecuted by the city attorney’s office and is punishable by a maximum penalty of a $1,000 fine and 90 days in jail.
Debbie Jean Miller, 50, of Duluth, whom X allegedly exposed to HIV, said she has thus far tested negative for the virus.
X’s ex-wife, however, has tested positive for HIV.
Miller said she has contacted five women she knows X has dated to warn them of his illness, as well as a young boy he spent time with.
“All he ever said was: ‘It’s your own fault,’ ” Miller said of X. “He doesn’t care who he gives it to. He said he doesn’t care.”
X, who is serving a nine-month sentence at the Northeast Regional Corrections Center for violating probation on an earlier case, couldn’t be reached for comment.
Miller told a police investigator that she had a consensual sexual relationship with X from approximately October through November 2008. She said she learned the defendant was HIV positive when she read an e-mail he received from his ex-wife, which indicated he had given her a disease.
X’s ex-wife provided Miller with a copy of Hennepin County medical records that indicate X had been infected with HIV for more than 10 years.
Medical records obtained by police from St. Mary’s Medical Center indicate X is both HIV positive and Hepatitis C positive.
Miller said that she met X when she had a mental health issue and was a client of the Human Development Center. She said he worked as a staff aide at the center’s Harmony Club, a social club for people with mental health disabilities.
Jim Gruba, executive director of the Human Development Center, confirmed X was an employee for about a month in late 2008.
“I hope that I can get some groups behind me to get this to the Legislature,” Miller said, “to make some changes to where the statute has some ramifications and punishments such as felony charges.”
X’s ex-wife talked to the News Tribune on Friday. She asked that her name not be made public. The 44-year-old woman from Aurora said she has become a friend of Miller’s and has provided her as much information about X as possible. She said she met X on the Internet in January 2005. They married on March 17, 2005. She admits she didn’t really know the man she married. She said she learned he was bisexual and he had Internet relationships with men and women.
She said X told her one day that he had the AIDS virus. “I wasn’t sure if he was lying or saying it because he was mad at me,” she said. She was tested and discovered she had the HIV virus on Oct. 19, 2005. She left her husband in Arizona and returned to Minnesota. The couple divorced in January 2007.
“My health is pretty good,” she said. “I get checked a lot and I caught it right away, and I’m doing good. But I’ll be taking HIV medicine … for the rest of my life.”
“Be careful when you’re dating,” she said. “If you have any kind of suspicion, make sure you check into your gut feelings and be very leery of the Internet, for sure. There aren’t just pedophiles out there; there are other people on there that will use you for other reasons.”
X is scheduled to be arraigned in St. Louis County District Court on Sept. 8. He has convictions for obstructing legal process, domestic abuse, felony theft, assault and aggravated robbery.
Editorial comment
A 39 year-old man from Duluth, Minnesota, has been charged with criminal HIV exposure for “intentionally inflicting or attempting to inflict bodily harm upon another by knowingly harboring an infectious agent and committing the act of sexual penetration with another person without having first informed the other person that the person has a communicable disease.”
However, the charge is only classed as a misdemeanor and the maximum penalty is a $1,000 fine and 90 days in prison.
Minnesota has previously only prosecuted four individuals for HIV exposure/transmission, all of whom were rapists who had their sentenced enhanced due to their HIV-positive status.
Now the accused man’s former lover and ex-wife have managed to get police and prosecutors involved in the first criminal case of non-disclosure prior to unprotected sex in the state. The wife is HIV-positive but the former lover is not: both are now friends and the former lover, in particular, appears to be on a mission. She told the Duluth News Tribune
The story includes the following details of the case so far:
The accused man is currently serving a nine-month sentence for violating probation on an unrelated charge and is scheduled to be arraigned on September 8th.