A medical student in Atlanta faces felony charges for having unprotected consensual sex without telling his partners his HIV status.

Police say that in April 2004, Garry Wayne Carriker, a 26-year-old fourth-year medical student who had graduated from the Air Force Academy, had already been dating John Withrow for five months before he revealed he was HIV-positive.

Withrow decided to press charges. "The reason I came forward to file a complaint was to stop him from victimizing someone else," he told the Associated Press (AP).

Carriker posted bond, but was then accused of having unprotected sex with two other men in Atlanta's Fulton County without telling them his HIV status.

Superior Court Judge Johnnie Caldwell Jr. revoked Carriker's $5,600 bond. He now faces three counts of felony reckless conduct.

If prosecutors can prove Carriker knew he had HIV during the alleged encounters and did not warn his partners, he could spend up to 10 years in prison.

While the felony reckless conduct charge is rarely used, some in the gay community think it's the best way to handle a health crisis.

"Since Carriker is not accepting responsibility for his own health status, perhaps the law is needed to protect others," Chuck Bowen, the executive director of Georgia Equality told the PlanetOut Network.

Joel Ginsberg, interim director of the San Francisco-based Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, says the prosecution's plan could backfire.

"From a public health perspective, the most important thing is that both sexual partners, not just the HIV-positive one, take responsibility for preventing infection," he said. "Criminal prosecution could undermine public health if it discourages testing."

According to the AP, Carriker's arrest has sent a jolt through Atlanta's LGBT community. One activist launched a Web site devoted to the case, listing the clubs Carriker frequented and urging those who may have been involved with him to get tested.

"It's really amazing to me that, in this day and time, people would have unprotected sex," said Bowen. "I think it demonstrates that both partners need to be honest about their HIV status."

http://www.gay.com/news/article.html?2005/07/19/4

Crazy stuff, you'd think in this day and age people would have the common decency to let their partners / fuck buddies know about something like this.

Reminds me of another case i read about recently where a HIV+ woman deliberatly went around infecting guys, i beleive she got jailed to.

Regards,

Lee