From The Chicago Tribune: A Missouri man was arraigned Thursday on charges that he recklessly infected a sexual partner with the virus that causes AIDS, and a prosecutor said he potentially could have infected 300 more people in two states.
David Mangum, 37, faces a felony charge in Stoddard County Circuit Court in southeastern Missouri accusing him of exposing a 29-year-old man to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes a life-threatening failure of the immune system commonly known as AIDS, according to courtdocuments. As well, Mangum admitted to having unprotected sex with more than 300 partners in Missouri and Texas since learning he was HIV positive in 2003, some of whom he had met through ads on the Craigslist Internet site, the court documents said.
"This situation is a serious public health concern, Russell Oliver, Stoddard County Prosecuting Attorney, said in a statement. "There are potentially 300 or more unknown victims that have been unknowingly exposed to HIV in this region. If any of those 300 individuals contracted the virus, all sexual partners of those victims have potentially been exposed."
Mangum, who worked in a grocery store in Dexter, Missouri, was arrested after his former partner learned in July that he was HIV positive. The man told police that Mangum had lied about having the virus.
Dexter Police Detective Cory Mills said Mangum told him he hid his HIV status from sexual partners because he feared they would reject him. http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/sns-rt-us-usa-crime-hiv-20130905,0,6538657.story
The gay community loves to say that anyone can get the HIV virus and this shows that many people engage in very, very risky behavior.
About the only way I could possibly get HIV is if I get a blood transfusion and the blood has HIV in it and that is very remote.
The truth is, the vast, vast majority of people who get HIV engage in risky behavior, like seeking partners on Craig' list.
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Well, as a gay person, I find this person's behavior appalling. I get him fearing rejection, but that's an insane reason to expose so many people to a chronic, life-threatening disease. Do you think there'd be people from the gay community defending this guy?
ReplyDeleteAs for AIDS, I'm 47, and graduated high school when AIDS "broke through" to mainstream coverage in the media. It was terrifying. The disease was a "perfect storm," arriving on the scene immediately following the second sexual revolution, the gay wave if you will, of the late 70s. "Risky" sex was rather unknown until AIDS hit, except for the usual STDs, which were pretty much joked about by gay and straight people. Nobody knew there WAS a risk, until the pieces started coming together in the early-to-mid-80s.
Anyone CAN get the HIV virus, it's just easier to get it if you are the receptive partner. Straight women, particularly minority women are very much at risk too. Be happy you're a straight, white, married guy and don't have to be faced with the risk. Incidentally, both me and The Other Half made it through, though neither of us would disparage anyone contracting the disease. "Risky" behavior is very subjective, particularly when you're talking about "gettin' lucky," which is about as intoxicating as any drug. That said, intentionally exposing people to any disease is evil, and unconscionable.