HIV-positive Toronto man charged with sex assault
A Toronto man has been arrested and charged with aggravated sexual assault after police allege that he deliberately withheld the fact that he was HIV positive in order to have unprotected sex with a partner.
Police also released a photograph of the suspect because they fear there are other victims.
“There is evidence to believe that he may have infected several other women,” Det. Kate Beveridge said Wednesday night.
She said detectives are in the process of contacting at least two other women whom the suspect allegedly withheld his medical status from in order to have unprotected sex.
Beveridge would not reveal details about how the suspect knew the victim or where he may have met his other sexual partners, in order to protect their identities.
In regards to the charge, the suspect and victim knew each other.
“It was not a one-night stand,” she said.
X, 29, of Toronto, is expected to make a court appearance Thursday morning.
Last month, the Ontario Court of Appeal sent Roger McGregor to jail, setting aside a previous 12-month conditional sentence and substituting 12 months in jail, after he did not tell his girlfriend that he had been HIV positive for more than a year.
The victim accidentally found out about his HIV status after she stumbled upon a medical information sheet on his bedroom dresser. She took it to a pharmacist to find out what the medication was for.
She was told it was for HIV.
Police charged McGregor with aggravated sexual assault.
Meanwhile, Johnson Aziga, 52, who has spent five years in pre-trial custody, is currently on trial after two women he allegedly had unprotected sex with died.
He is facing two first-degree murder charges for allegedly spreading the virus that caused AIDS. He is also facing 11 counts of sexual assault.
Aziga’s case is being touted as a landmark as similar cases have previously led to lesser aggravated assault charges rather than murder.
