German girl band singer sentenced to community service, suspended 2 year sentence for infecting "lover"

A German court has given pop singer Nadja Benaissa a two-year suspended sentence for having unprotected sex while failing to tell her sexual partners she was HIV positive.

The 28-year-old Benaissa is a member of the popular girl band No Angels. She discovered she was HIV positive in 1999 when she was three months pregnant. She was arrested in April 2009 for having unprotected sex with three men in 2004 and 2006 and failing to inform them of her HIV status. To do so can be classified as aggravated assault under German law.

Both the state prosecutor Peter Liesenfeld and her defense had asked the courts for the suspended sentence in the trial, which ended on Wednesday. Liesenfeld cited her confession and her expression of remorse as reasons for lighter sentence "I made a huge mistake," Benaissa said in an emotional apology during the closing arguments.

"I am sorry from the bottom of my heart," she said. "I would love to turn back the clock, but I can't."

But the 34-year-old man she infected with HIV gave an angry testimony during the trial, saying she had caused "a lot of suffering in this world." Because she and the man both have a strain of the virus that is relatively rare in Germany, medical experts had determined the man had almost certainly been infected by Benaissa.

She was also convicted of attempted aggravated assault for having unprotected sex with another man who did not contract the virus.She said she was afraid that her career would be negatively impacted if it became public that she is HIV positive.

Instead of jail time, the pop star is expected to complete 300 hours of community service and attend regular counseling sessions. No Angels, which first formed in 2000 and got back together in 2007 after a brief break, are expected to restart their tour. That tour was interrupted last year when Benaissa was arrested just before performing in Frankfurt.

RCMP, New Westminister BC police seek suspects in HIV infection cases

The RCMP and local authorities are seeking two men who they suspect have had sexual contact with women without revealing their HIV+ status. On May 19, 2010, Mounties charged Adam Rollo with aggravated assault on a woman for sexual contact with a woman despite knowing he had been HIV positive since 2003. Corporal Peter DeVries has the following to say about Rollo.

 Since the North Vancouver RCMP last notified the public, four additional women have come forward and provided enough evidence for investigators to recommend four more charges of aggravated assault against Mr. Rollo. Police are awaiting crown counsel’s response to the recommendations. Mr. Rollo is currently under court imposed conditions that require him to disclose to any potential partners the fact that he carries the HIV virus. Investigators want talk to all potential victims and witnesses in this case.

New Westminster Police have issued an arrest warrant for a 38 year old man who they fear has traveled to Eastern Canada to have sex with more unsuspecting women without disclosing his HIV+ status. Bongani Nyoni is accused of having sex with 3 women while concealing his status.

 New Westminster Crown Counsel has issued a Canada wide warrant for Nyoni’s arrest as it is believed he may have travelled to eastern Canada. The offences date back to May of 2006 and investigators are concerned that Nyoni may continue to engage in intimate relations with females without disclosing his medical condition.

The contact person for the Adam Rollo case is Corporal Doug Trousdell of the North Vancouver RCMP who is handling the file. You can call him at 604-990-7491. Refer to file 2010-13171.

Swedish doctor jailed for 10 months, ordered to pay $3500 in restitution for infecting sex partners

The Local (Sweden)

A male senior physician has been jailed by Stockholm District Court after he had unprotected sex with two men despite knowing that he was HIV positive. The court sentenced the physician to ten months imprisonment for reckless endangerment and was also ordered to pay 26,900 kronor ($3,512) in compensation to one of the men.

One of the two men has been diagnosed with HIV, but the court argued that it can not be ruled out that he was infected by someone else. The second man is not HIV positive. Lawyer Elisabeth Massi Fritz, representing the two men, told news agency TT that the ruling will be appealed.

"The prosecutor and I agreed that we would appeal if any of the charges were to be dismissed."

The man was facing a further charge of aggravated assault, with an alternative charge relating to causing the HIV infection. These charges were dismissed by the court as it could not be concluded that the doctor was responsible for the infection.

Elisabeth Massi Fritz says she is not surprised at the verdict but expressed disappointment that one of the charges was dismissed. "There can be no other person that has infected my client. But we have to obtain a supplementary investigation to prove this," said Massi Fritz.

The district court concluded in its ruling that the doctor's actions had threatened the lives of the men and that his offence should be considered especially serious, given that in his professional capacity he should be aware of the Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control (SMI) rules of conduct.

"Husband" gets 5 years for infecting wife with HIV

A 51 year old suburban Cleveland man was sentenced to 5 years in prison for giving his wife HIV, which because of lack of treatment, progressed into full-blown AIDS. Fernando Castro pleaded guilty to felonious assault February 10 in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. Judge Timothy McGinty said, "This is a crime that calls for punishment. There is a price to pay for such irresponsible behavior."

Castro began getting treatment for HIV from MetroHealth Medical Center in 1993, medical officials testified.

His first wife died of health problems caused by the infection the following year.

When he met his current wife in 1995, he told her that his first wife died of cervical cancer. He got treatment behind her back and even got his son from his first marriage, who is now 17, tested. He never told his current wife, however, that he was infected and made up excuses when she saw him taking pills.

The victim was charmed by Castro's knowledge of the Bible and basketball. "I thought he was going to be a real good father figure to my children," she said. Warning signs she sped past included sugessting that she drop contact with her family. "He never wanted me to have any contact with his family at all. My family always thought he was sneaky." They married in 2004.

Then she started dropping weight, feeling cold and getting the chills. She chalked it up to the cool temperature in the lab, then decided she was catching a cold. By the end of July, she was running a fever, coughing and having trouble breathing. Her doctor diagnosed a respiratory infection and prescribed antibiotics.

Instead of getting better, she grew worse. On Aug. 5, she went without her husband to the emergency room at Fairview Hospital. Doctors admitted her immediately and kept her for more than a week. "They thought I was going to die," she said.

While she was in the hospital, her husband moved out of their Cleveland home and into an apartment in Beachwood. Finally, doctors confirmed she had had HIV for years and that it had developed into AIDS. She ordered her family out of her hospital room, and, as she cried, she remembered a fight she once had with her husband.

"He said, 'One of these days you're going to get what's coming to you,' " she said. "I told him, 'If you hurt me in any kind of way, I'm going to press charges.' "

She had never thought he would do anything to hurt her, but now that she inexplicably had AIDS, she went to Cleveland police. Officers pulled her husband's medical records, which revealed that he had been getting treatment for HIV since at least 2004, the year they married.

It was then that Castro abandoned his victim. He was charged in October, and this exchange occurred on Castro's 51st birthday, when the victim's 7 year old adopted son sent Castro a card. "I said, 'What, were you waiting for me to die? I was at the hospital and you didn't even tell me. That way they can take care of me right away rather than me waiting 10 days [in the hospital] to figure it out so they can give me the right medicine.'

The hospitailzations and treatment cost the woman her job as a dialysis worker. SHe sold her wedding ring to support her family, including the 7 year old boy. However, she still needs assistance in getting the divorce finalized. When one of her older children got married earlier this year and their HIV tests came back healthy, "I cried the whole ceremony. I'm not going to let this destroy me."

Man convicted of HIV positive rape - sentencing date scheduled for September 25

(Original Post 2-24-09)
A Nigerian immigrant to Canada was convicted of aggravated sexual assault for raping his ex-"girlfriend," causing her to be infected with HIV. William-Imona Russel, 35, was also convicted of beating and endangering the 58 year old victim's life. Ontario Superior Court Justice John McMahon stated that "there's no absolute proof" that Imona-Russel infected the victim.

The judge found him guilty of assault causing bodily harm, assault with a weapon, threatening death, attempted aggravated sexual assault to endanger life and two counts of sexual assault.
"I do not find Mr. Imona-Russel to be a forthright witness," McMahon said, noting his testimony was not only contradicted by other witnesses but was internally inconsistent.

The judge found that long after Imona-Russel and his former girlfriend ceased to have consensual sex, he visited her apartment on March 3, 2005, pushed, slapped and kicked her, stood on her chest, threw her on her bed, and threatened to kill her with a power drill before having forced intercourse.

On March 13, he returned, pushing open the bathroom door she was cowering behind, grabbed her throat and raped her again. A few days later, the woman complained to police, who had a pair of her underwear tested for Imona-Russel's semen. The test was positive.
Police also urged the woman to get tested for HIV. She was infected.

Imona-Russel stated that he came to Canada claiming refugee status April 2003, then met the victim in an apartment building near the airport. They started having sex until an immigration doctor told him he was HIV positive, and they never had sex again. However, the judge stated that he tested positive for HIV a month before he stopped having sex with his victim.

The victim suffers from PTSD and substance abuse. Imona-Russel is facing charges that in 2006, he stabbed another woman to death.

(Update 9-13-09) Imona-Russel's sentence, according to Crown prosecutor Julia Forward, should be 8 to 10 years for his "violent and callous" crime against his victim. "She's infected because of his selfish indifference and that is something she'll have to deal with for the rest of her life," Foward opined in her argument before Justice John McMahon in Imona-Russel's sentencing hearing.

Lawyer Ferhan Javed, appointed by Justice McMahon to represent Imona-Russell after he fired other attorneys, argued for a 4 to 6 year sentence. Even though the sentencing hearing was Friday, September 11, his actual sentence will be meted out two weeks later, on September 25.

French national living in Dallas metroplex gets 45 years for deliberate infection with HIV

A Frisco, TX man of French origin was sentenced to 45 years in prison yesterday for deliberately infecting 6 women with HIV. The sentences, 45 years in 5 cases and 25 years in the remaining case, will run concurrently. Earlier this week, Philippe Padieu was convicted by a jury of 6 counts of assault with a deadly weapon - his penis - for refusing to disclose that he had full blown AIDS.

One juror, who asked not to be identified, cried as she hugged a victim. The trial had been helpful to her, she told the woman, because, "I have a daughter that's 19 and I don't tell her a lot of things. "It just takes one time to destroy your life," she said shaking her head.

Another juror stated that they had to remove themselves emotionally from the testimony, finding that Padieu was guilty of aggravated assault. The 45 year sentence was a compromise between prosecutors that wanted life and the defense, who wanted 20 years.

One victim, who remained anonymous, stated that she wishes that she could kill herself because of the stigma surrounding AIDS.

"I consider suicide, because it would be so much easier. It's a battle every single day....If I had cancer, I could tell people - I could tell them without fear or embarrassment or shame."

"I wish you no harm," she said, "And I pray that I can forgive. And I pray for a cure for us all.'"

Another victim "thanked" Padieu for "introducing me to a group of 10 incredibly beautiful, brave women who had the guts to stand up here and tell the world their most embarrassing moments to make sure you were stopped. I still wonder why you did this, but I'm not going to let it consume me. Our friendship will last long after you're gone."

Padieu's attorney, Bennie House, said the sentence was "better than life," but he didn't call it a victory.

House said he felt Padieu should not have been prosecuted in the first place because, unlike some other states, Texas does not have an "HIV law" specifically criminalizing the intentional spreading of the sexually transmitted disease. Prosecuting Padieu for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon "absolutely opens the door for any STD prosecution," or even diseases such as swine flu, he said.

Padieu will have to serve 50%, or 22 1/2 years, before being eligible for parole.

This editorial explains why Padieu's victims are just as much victims as a person who gets shot.

AIDS infected man convicted of 1st degree murder in sexual assaults

In an unprecedented decision in Canada, an Hamilton, ON man was convicted of 1st degree murder April 4 for deliberately infecting women with HIV, the virus which eventually causes AIDS. Johnson Aziga, 52, was put on trial in October for 2 counts of 1st degree murder, 10 counts of aggravated sexual assault, and a single count of attempted aggravated assault.

The former Ontario government worker, father of three kids, and athlete met his victims in nightclubs, bars, and also through work. Besides the two deaths, five other victims currently have HIV, and another four were exposed to HIV, but tested negative.

In his instruction to jurors, Justice Thomas Lofchik said they need not find that Aziga planned and deliberately killed the two Toronto women for him to be found guilty of first-degree murder.
The deaths of S.B., 51, and H.C., 49, would automatically be first-degree murders if the jury found they were committed as the result of an aggravated sexual assault, Lofchik said.

The defence argued Aziga suffered from an organic brain disorder and a range of personal problems and did not have the state of mind to deliberately endanger the lives of his sexual partners.

Assistant Crown attorney Karen Shea told the judge she expects to have victim impact statements from many of the surviving complainants and their families.

SB's grown daughter did not wait to give her impact statement, talking to reporters after the verdict was announced. She talked about how her son lost a grandmother due to Aziga's actions.

“I thought that any person who would have common sense and who would have that evidence in front of them would find the same way that I felt — that he was guilty. How could you not connect that (sex) act with the sequence of events that led to her death...I don’t think that he should have any liberties... because he did not give any liberties to his victims by disclosing his HIV status. He denied them treatment and eventually for two of them, my mom included, they died.”

Aziga will be sentenced May 7. 1st degree murder carries a mandatory 25 to life sentence in Canada, where crimes with a maximum sentence over 2 years are always federal offenses. Misdemeanors, called "summary offences," can be provincial or federal offences in Canadian criminal law.

Rosie Dimanno, Toronto Star columnist, has a piece, "HIV-positive man killed with hatred." An excerpt is below.

Dishonest and duplicitous, thinking only of his immediate sexual gratification, the 52-year-old knowingly and intentionally exposed his unsuspecting lovers to the HIV virus right up until the morning of his arrest on Aug. 30, 2003. He cut a wide swath with his penis.

Windsor man gets 18 years for deliberate infeciton of women with HIV

This is pulled from a story of a Windsor, ON businessman who was sentenced to 18 years for deliberate infection of women with HIV, a type of sexual assault. Embedded in this are incidents of more "traditional" date rape and drug rapes.

DOUG SCHMIDT, Canwest News Service; Windsor Star

Describing the crimes as "despicable and selfish," a judge sentenced Windsor businessman Carl Leone yesterday to 18 years in prison for engaging in unprotected sex without advising his partners that he was HIV-positive.

"The spread of HIV in the community must be stopped," Superior Court Justice Joseph Quinn said during his 90-minute ruling.

Leone, 32, pleaded guilty a year ago to 15 counts of aggravated sexual assault. Five of those victims have since tested positive for the virus that can lead to AIDS, and the judge said each of them now has a shorter life expectancy.

Quinn dismissed the Crown's application to have Leone declared either a dangerous or long-term offender, saying he did not represent a substantial risk to reoffend.

But he said the court had to send a strong message of deterrence, and he sentenced Leone to 15 consecutive terms ranging from two to five years each and totalling 49 years. Quinn said the justice system, however, required that he not impose an unduly harsh sentence that violates the "totality principal," and he adjusted the prison term downward to 18 years.

"I'm happy for the girls," Pat Keane, the Windsor police lead detective in the case, said of the ruling. Other detectives present for the sentencing expressed satisfaction with the ruling.
"I'm just proud of all the women -- they did it for the community," Keane added.

"I hope it sends a message," said Windsor-Essex's medical officer of health, Dr. Allen Heimann, who sat through much of the court proceedings since Leone's arrest in June 2004.

"Obviously, it's a significant amount of years, but it's in the ballpark," defence lawyer Andrew Bradie told reporters outside the courthouse. "I'm very pleased he was not declared a dangerous or long-term offender ... you can get to rather staggering numbers (of years in prison)," he said.

Bradie added his client's chances of getting parole are greatly improved without such a
designation.

Leone will be eligible to apply to the National Parole Board for full parole after serving a third, or six years, of his sentence, and there are provisions for day parole before that.

Neither Crown attorney Nat Bernardon nor the assistant Crown attorneys who argued the case wished to comment on yesterday's sentencing.

In the case of A.P., Leone was repeatedly asked to wear a condom but refused, stating he was okay. As with a number of his partners, Leone engaged in unprotected anal sex. The judge said A.P. contracted HIV, must take medication for the rest of what will probably be a shortened life and is "not able to have her own family."

Leone repeatedly "threatened the health and possible life of a person ... for five to 10 minutes of sexual gratification," said Quinn, who described it as "despicable and selfish conduct." The judge described a pattern of criminal behaviour spanning seven years from 1997 when Leone was first diagnosed with HIV and warned he had to wear a condom and advise his partners of his status.

Dangerous offenders are sentenced to indefinite terms in prison, with petitions to get the designation removed possible after 7 years. Infamous dangerous offenders legally designated in Canada include Paul Bernardo. Long term offenders get a 10 year strict probaiton tacked onto the end of their sentences.