Current Events > Man with HIV sentenced to 2 years in prison for not telling sexual partners

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https://nypost.com/2021/07/23/florida-man-who-hid-hiv-status-from-gal-pals-sentenced-to-prison/

A Florida man who had sex with multiple women without telling them he was HIV-positive has been sentenced to two years in prison. At least two of the women were diagnosed with HIV after dating the man. Gentry Burns, 27, of Port Orange pleaded no contest Thursday to one count of uninformed HIV-infected sexual intercourse. Two other counts of the same felony charge were dropped, WESH reported. Burns, who was arrested after an ex-girlfriend contacted authorities, was also sentenced to 12 months of probation upon his release, the station reported. An investigation into Burns started in October 2019 when his ex told authorities she believed she got HIV from him while the pair dated in 2013, according to the Volusia County Sheriffs Office. The victim had been reaching out to contact other women who were dating Burns in an attempt to warn them, investigators said at the time. She also provided detectives with the names of the other women she believed Burns could have infected.

Detectives later learned that Burns who was diagnosed with the virus in January 2014 had sex with three women without telling them his status. One was later diagnosed with HIV in 2017 after dating Burns a year earlier, authorities said. Its believed that Gentry Burns traveled extensively along the East Coast of the United States and may have had contact with additional victims in other states, sheriff officials said while announcing the accusations against Burns, who was already jailed on unrelated charges. Twenty-one states, including Florida, have laws requiring people with HIV who are aware of their status to tell their sex partners with potential penalties ranging up to life in prison, the CDC said.

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2 years isnt enough for shit like this

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Is/was he not on treatment? If youre undetectable you cant transmit.

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2 years for attempted murder?

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Lebronwon posted...

Twenty-one states, including Florida, have laws requiring people with HIV who are aware of their status to tell their sex partners

I'm not sure what's more surprising, there only being 21 states with a law about this, or Florida being one of them.

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Didn't California make this a slap on the wrist misdemeanor?

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MrKapowski posted...

Didn't California make this a slap on the wrist misdemeanor?

Thats insanity

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It always confuses me. When they say life in prison, does it mean prison for the rest of your life or just you have to live in prison for how many years your given?

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Cobra1010 posted...

It always confuses me. When they say life in prison, does it mean prison for the rest of your life or just you have to live in prison for how many years your given?

People who knowingly spread disease should be all sent to live in a quarantine zone for the rest of their natural existence.

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MrKapowski posted...

Didn't California make this a slap on the wrist misdemeanor?

Yes. Which is punishable by up to one year in jail.

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Thats basically rape and biological terrorism. 2 years is not nearly enough.

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Good, fuck him, don't spread incurable and potentially life-threatening diseases. What an absolute piece of shit.

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Can no one answer my question? I find it very strange that he had been diagnosed but was not on treatment. Youre virtually guaranteed treatment for HIV/AIDS in America, regardless of your ability to pay.

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MrKapowski posted...

Didn't California make this a slap on the wrist misdemeanor?

Yes but the law itself had some criticism. It was mostly done so sex workers wouldnt be getting felonies.

If you are a sex worker and you solicit someone and youre HIV positive, youre guilty of a felony before any contact occurs, said California state Sen. Scott Wiener (D), a co-sponsor of the bill. These laws are so draconian that you can be convicted of a felony and sent to state prison even if you engage in behavior that creates zero risk of HIV infection.

basically the law as it was written could give someone a felony even if no contact occurred yet. Even by making the base a misdemeanor youll still be able to charge the person with more on a case by case basis. This just makes it so its not a black and white instant felony.

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CartmanMustDie posted...

Death penalty

screw that, you guys wanting to execute someone need help

AwesomeFawful posted...

I'm not sure what's more surprising, there only being 21 states with a law about this, or Florida being one of them.

They're not exactly effective so...

https://www.apa.org/monitor/2018/10/ce-corner

On their face, laws requiring the disclosure of HIV-positive status before risky activities might seem like a reasonable way to reduce transmission. But there is good evidence that the laws aren't accomplishing that goaland evidence that they might be undermining it.

A 2017 study, conducted by a team of researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention led by Patricia Sweeney, MPH, compared the relationship between the existence of HIV criminalization laws in a state and the rate of diagnosis of HIV and AIDS through 2010. That year, 30 states had laws criminalizing HIV exposure. The researchers found no relationship between the laws and HIV diagnosis rates

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-l___________l- posted...

There are actually quite a few people who purposely try to get HIV and spread it to others. look up "bugchasers"

bugchasers is the reverse people who purposely try to contract HIV from others

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With the California law, when it was in the news there were people acting like getting HIV/Aids is no big deal now thanks to medicine...because we all know America has the greatest healthcare system in the world and isn't stupidly expensive for most. I couldn't believe people were downplaying giving people diseases like that.

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In California, this would be a misdemeanor.
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DeadmansGun posted...

In California, this would be a misdemeanor.

Yea. I explained why in my last post.

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Shablagoo posted...

Can no one answer my question? I find it very strange that he had been diagnosed but was not on treatment. Youre virtually guaranteed treatment for HIV/AIDS in America, regardless of your ability to pay.

There's a subset of people called spreaders, who fantasize about getting diseases and spreading them to other people. There's a community of people who've developed their own terminology for it, like a HIV positive person being poz or a person getting infected being pozzed.

It extends to people who fantasize about getting infected as well, and I imagine the thought is that they can spread it to others themselves. Really fucked up, disturbing stuff.

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Is that his mugshot, dude?

Is he fucking smiling?

VipaGTS posted...

Yes but the law itself had some criticism. It was mostly done so sex workers wouldnt be getting felonies.

basically the law as it was written could give someone a felony even if no contact occurred yet. Even by making the base a misdemeanor youll still be able to charge the person with more on a case by case basis. This just makes it so its not a black and white instant felony.

Sounds fair to me. Don't be a sex worker if you have incurable diseases

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2 years is a slap on wrists, I think 10-20 years would be in line for this crime

Only 2 Years? Those are multiple attempt murder charges

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that beard looks disgusting

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People who think it's just ok to go infecting people with an incurable disease (let alone any kind really) need to be beaten with a steel bat until they're no longer recognizable.

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pkmnlord posted...

People who think it's just ok to go infecting people with an incurable disease (let alone any kind really) need to be beaten with a steel bat until they're no longer recognizable.

Im with you with your overall premise butJesus

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