An HIV-positive man from Pirmasens has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for assault by the Rastatt district court, reports the Badisches Tageblatt newspaper. The 25-year-old defendant is alleged to have had unprotected sex with his then partner several times between June 2007 and April 2008, infecting him with HIV.
The ex-partner, also 25 years old, who had been made aware of the infection when donating blood and had filed the complaint, stated in court that he had asked the accused before having sex whether he had had HIV tests done and was HIV-negative - which he had answered in the affirmative. An expert report had shown that the two men had the same strain of the virus.
According to the newspaper report, the accused had his lawyer announce that he had no knowledge of his infection. This was questioned by witnesses, reports the Tageblatt: "An ex-boyfriend said that he had been informed of the accused's HIV infection by his stepmother at the beginning of 2006. There had also been rumours about this in the gay scene". Witnesses also reported frequent cheating and "messing around".
The public prosecutor, who had demanded a prison sentence of two years and nine months, argued that the defendant had acted wilfully in any case, even if he had not known about his infection. His reaction to the question about an HIV test had shown "that he did not care whether he infected someone". The defendant's lawyer argued that he "did not want to take note of the danger and suppressed the problem". Therefore, he could not be accused of intent and a suspended sentence of one year and four months was appropriate.
The court of lay assessors agreed with the opinion of the public prosecutor's office that the defendant had accepted that others would become infected. "This bodily injury will not heal. The injured party will have to deal with it for the rest of his life," said chairwoman Angelika Binder.
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