What began with an unsuspecting Stanislaus County woman
stumbling upon prescriptions in her boyfriend’s medicine cabinet to
treat HIV, has now morphed into state legislation by a local
senator that paints a red target on anyone knowingly infecting
others with the incurable disease that causes AIDS.
Hollister – What began with an unsuspecting Stanislaus County woman stumbling upon prescriptions in her boyfriend’s medicine cabinet to treat HIV, has now morphed into state legislation by a local senator that paints a red target on anyone knowingly infecting others with the incurable disease that causes AIDS.
Local Senator Jeff Denham, R-Merced, recently introduced a bill to create harsher punishments for anyone who engages in unprotected sex without disclosing their HIV-positive status to their partner. HIV, or Human Immunodeficiency Virus leads to the incurable Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS.
Denham introduced the bill after a visit from one of his constituents from Stanislaus County who had been sleeping with her boyfriend for several months and was in the dark to his HIV-positive status, said Nick Rappley, one of Denham’s aides. After finding his medication and confronting him, the woman called police and they told her the man could be charged with a felony, but the charge is incredibly hard to prove and she would have better luck pressing a generic misdemeanor charge for spreading a sexually-transmitted disease. The man served four months in jail, but Denham believes the law needs to be amended so prosecutors can charge either a felony or misdemeanor for the crime committed – knowingly, having the deadly disease and putting an unsuspecting person at risk.
“Anyone who is HIV-positive and recklessly engages in sexual activity with an unknowing victim should be punished under the law,” Denham said. “Purposefully infecting others with HIV should be considered the same as assaulting someone.”
A statute making it a felony to transmit HIV was enacted in 1988, and later amended in 1998. Currently the law states that any person knowingly infected with HIV who has unprotected sex with another person is guilty of a felony. However, evidence that the person had knowledge of their status, without additional evidence, is not sufficient to prove specific intent, according to state law.
Because of the way the law is written, Rappley said it’s nearly impossible to prove and a very limited number of people have been convicted because of it.
In San Benito County there was only one reported case of HIV in the past year and a half, said Muree Reafs, public health nurse. Last month the San Benito County Board of Supervisors approved declining grant money from the state that has funded local HIV education and prevention programs for years, according to a board consent item. Last year the county received almost $64,000 to fund the program, and this year about $10,000 was slated to make its way to San Benito. Because of the effect the cuts would have on the program and the county’s ability to staff it, the county declined the funding altogether, Reafs said.
The money San Benito declined should instead go into a private Monterey group’s coffers, which contracts its services with the county, she said. And because there is a small HIV-infected population in the county, services shouldn’t suffer too much and some funding will still be available for education and prevention, she said.
“Certainly we will continue sending the message,” she said.
