Jail time for spreading HIV?

AmoroAgain · August 2010

I was just reading an article about a German singer who was being tried for having unprotected sex while knowing that she has HIV. Apparently, she could have been sent to jail for up to 10 years. What do you think of this?

http://www.thelocal.de/national/20100826-29413.html

[Deleted User] · August 2010

She definately should be serving time. It's along the lines of attempted murder. If someones does not know they are now HIV positive they can continue spreading it too. It is very, very dangerous to keep information like that to yourself. And what's worse is if she knows and chooses not to share that information it is like she is knowingly trying to infect others.

crfische · August 2010

Well with success like this, can you really argue with her?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tkb1JGxswfY

That's musical genius right there.

baystateapple · August 2010

I don't know if I agree with jail time or not. But I do believe it's incredibly irresponsible and selfish to go around sleeping with people, unprotected, when you know you have a lethal and incurable disease. It's taking a gamble with someone else's life...and they don't even realize it. So yeah, I guess I would lean towards giving her jail time.

mandapanda78 · August 2010

I think it's definitely criminal to knowingly engage in unprotected sex without informing your partner that you're positive. On the other hand, he didn't slap a condom on himself, either. So is she solely responsible? It's touchy. Also, HIV/AIDS is so much more treatable now than it was before 1996. Not to say that it's a walk in the park, but it's not the death sentence it used to be.

xyrius · August 2010

absolutely. go to jail.

i can't believe she got off because "she's sorry". this just makes my blood boil, I can't even come up with words.

i can just imagine how the man she infected feels, i'm sure sorry doesn't cut it at all for him. "sorry"'s not going to take away his HIV.

ugh.

AmoroAgain · August 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_jail-time-spreading-hiv?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:e1a7fdc5-4ac0-44b6-ac04-310061d5d841Post:374b1867-3765-4332-aa5c-aadaa4b2158c">Re: Jail time for spreading HIV?</a>:
[QUOTE]Well with success like this, can you really argue with her? <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tkb1JGxswfY" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tkb1JGxswfY</a> That's musical genius right there.
Posted by crfische[/QUOTE]
Well that's just hilarious. German music is.... weird. Were they trying to be like um... crap. Blanking on the British girls group.

I'm surprised that in all the time she was "famous" and able to go to good doctors, they supposedly never told her that she was handing out HIV? She claims they didn't.

Hellokatie0517 · August 2010

Did you hear about the little boy who found a used condom in a hotel room and put it in his mouth? He came down (no pun intended) with a fever and got blisters in his mouth. I'm no expert, but he may have the herp. Ick!

Yeah that's wrong if she knew she had it. However, I guess it is not as easy to transmit HIV from women to men as it is from men to women. But still, what a d-bag.

Beachy730 · August 2010

I definitely think they should be punished for knowingly infecting someone with HIV. You literally are giving them a death sentence.

About an hour from where I grew up there was a guy who knowingly infected 13 different women with HIV. He was 19 at the time, and some of the girls were still in high school and I think maybe even younger. He keeps getting denied probation and they really don't want to let him out of jail because he has no remorse for what he did.

http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/hiv-predator-confined-jail-officials-confined-life/story?id=11210268

baystateapple · August 2010

She claims that they told her that she couldn't spread it.

Who ARE these doctors? Either she's lying, or they're incredibly stupid.

FutureMrsTR · August 2010

10 years seems maybe a bit excessive, but I think she should get some jail time. It is criminal to have unprotected sex knowing 100% that you have a (possibly) deadly and incurable virus.

xyrius · August 2010

she has to be lying, you'd have to be living in a hole to not know that you can transmit HIV to other people

andy71781 · August 2010

My problem with this is the assumption of risk on the part of the people who slept with her (without protection). 10 years seems a tad steep to me.

AmoroAgain · August 2010

For me, I figure she's probably got a bit of money, and as treatments are expensive, she should be paying for his. I don't think jail times really "does" anything, kwim? However, being told she has to shoulder the burden for someone elses' treatments... that's an impact she's always going to feel.

baystateapple · August 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_jail-time-spreading-hiv?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:e1a7fdc5-4ac0-44b6-ac04-310061d5d841Post:3b546472-b882-4051-bc5e-66ff47bba7ea">Re: Jail time for spreading HIV?</a>:
[QUOTE]For me, I figure she's probably got a bit of money, and as treatments are expensive, she should be paying for his. I don't think jail times really "does" anything, kwim? However, being told she has to shoulder the burden for someone elses' treatments... that's an impact she's always going to feel.
Posted by AmoroAgain[/QUOTE]

I think that's an excellent idea.

AmoroAgain · August 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_jail-time-spreading-hiv?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:e1a7fdc5-4ac0-44b6-ac04-310061d5d841Post:f6709c4f-c467-49ee-ae06-fe92b7af1d39">Re: Jail time for spreading HIV?</a>:
[QUOTE]My problem with this is the assumption of risk on the part of the people who slept with her (without protection). 10 years seems a tad steep to me.
Posted by andy71781[/QUOTE]
That's the thing also. I mean, Europeans are VERY knowledgeable and open about sex and what is and isn't healthy, so there's no excuse for either of them to not "do the right thing.

xyrius · August 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_jail-time-spreading-hiv?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:e1a7fdc5-4ac0-44b6-ac04-310061d5d841Post:3b546472-b882-4051-bc5e-66ff47bba7ea">Re: Jail time for spreading HIV?</a>:
[QUOTE]For me, I figure she's probably got a bit of money, and as treatments are expensive, <strong>she should be paying for his.</strong> I don't think jail times really "does" anything, kwim? However, being told she has to shoulder the burden for someone elses' treatments... that's an impact she's always going to feel.
Posted by AmoroAgain[/QUOTE]

I would hope, at the very *least*, that she would do this simply out of the kindness of her heart - not court-ordered to do it.

FutureMrsTR · August 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_jail-time-spreading-hiv?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:e1a7fdc5-4ac0-44b6-ac04-310061d5d841Post:f60ec052-64f4-487b-9d11-96d572eb7642">Re: Jail time for spreading HIV?</a>:
[QUOTE]<strong>Did you hear about the little boy who found a used condom in a hotel room and put it in his mouth?</strong> He came down (no pun intended) with a fever and got blisters in his mouth. I'm no expert, but he may have the herp. Ick! Yeah that's wrong if she knew she had it. However, I guess it is not as easy to transmit HIV from women to men as it is from men to women. But still, what a d-bag.
Posted by Hellokatie0517[/QUOTE]

This made me throw up in my mouth a little bit.

TatiMarie · August 2010

I don't know how the German legal system works, but how many times does one get convicted for something like fraud, drugs, etc, and get their sentenced reduced? Maybe she won't serve the full 10 years?

Either way though, what she did is wrong. I didn't read the article, but heard about this on the news. DId it ever mention the motives she had?

banana468 · August 2010

I agree that she should be punished but where does it end?

What if others knew that she had it and did the "I'm not getting involved by telling" thing?

[Deleted User] · August 2010

Agree Amoro- She should have to pay for the others' treatments. Those that were infected by her yes, I will call them dumb, for not using protection, but the consequences of have unprotected sex with someone who is healthy and someone who has HIV are two totally different things. She should have told them.

waltzingmatilda13 · August 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_jail-time-spreading-hiv?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:e1a7fdc5-4ac0-44b6-ac04-310061d5d841Post:3b546472-b882-4051-bc5e-66ff47bba7ea">Re: Jail time for spreading HIV?</a>:
[QUOTE]For me, I figure she's probably got a bit of money, and as treatments are expensive, she should be paying for his. I don't think jail times really "does" anything, kwim? However, being told she has to shoulder the burden for someone elses' treatments... that's an impact she's always going to feel.
Posted by AmoroAgain[/QUOTE]

This is more appropriate. Put her on probation and if she gets in trouble for anything else, toss her in jail. But making her pay for their treatment for rest of their lives will hit her every single day.

squirrly · August 2010

If somebody injected me with HIV, that'd be criminal, right? So, I absolutely think that having unprotected sex when infected with an illness that can kill you and has no cure and is spread through sex is just as criminal.

Now, if she told her partners and they were ok with unprotected sex, they're stupid and it's not something she should be criminally liable for anymore. But otherwise it's like slipping something into medicine or food they're taking - you've deceived them into putting something dangerous in their body. NOT COOL.

Either assault with a deadly weapon or attempted murder sound really reasonable to me.

L-Bride · August 2010

I think she should get jail time as well. I agree that the person who was sleeping with her should take responsibility but it can be compared to drunk driving with a passenger in the car. If the driver crashes the car, the driver gets in trouble not the passenger. It's kind of similar in the sense that both parties are taking a risk.

AmoroAgain · August 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_jail-time-spreading-hiv?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:e1a7fdc5-4ac0-44b6-ac04-310061d5d841Post:806e4cda-cf47-4bc1-b309-847b0aab3e46">Re: Jail time for spreading HIV?</a>:
[QUOTE] I don't know how the German legal system works, but how many times does one get convicted for something like fraud, drugs, etc, and get their sentenced reduced? Maybe she won't serve the full 10 years? Either way though, what she did is wrong. I didn't read the article, but heard about this on the news. DId it ever mention the motives she had?
Posted by TatiMarie[/QUOTE]

She was not convicted or given any jail time. I don't know the German system, but I know here in Sweden, a life sentence is 30 years for murder. And people with lesser crimes often have them commuted.

Her "motive" was that she was told by doctors she couldn't pass it on.

xyrius · August 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_jail-time-spreading-hiv?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:e1a7fdc5-4ac0-44b6-ac04-310061d5d841Post:f121d267-fc34-410a-939f-6de19862942b">Re: Jail time for spreading HIV?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Jail time for spreading HIV? : She was not convicted or given any jail time. I don't know the German system, but I know here in Sweden, a life sentence is 30 years for murder. And people with lesser crimes often have them commuted. <strong>Her "motive" was that she was told by doctors she couldn't pass it on.</strong>
Posted by AmoroAgain[/QUOTE]

I disagree. Her motive was, and I'm copying and pasting from the article here:

Benaissa said doctors had told her the risk of transmitting the virus was "practically zero" <strong>and she did not want to jeopardise her success by revealing she was HIV positive.</strong>

mandapanda78 · August 2010

Let's look at this another way. If they'd had unprotected sex and she'd gotten pregnant, they would both be responsible for the subsequent child. If she had told him she was on BC but lied, he'd still be a legally responsible for the kid because it was his decision to have sex without a condom, KWIM?

xyrius · August 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_jail-time-spreading-hiv?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:e1a7fdc5-4ac0-44b6-ac04-310061d5d841Post:ea6058fe-3237-450f-97f3-9e56e005f107">Re: Jail time for spreading HIV?</a>:
[QUOTE]Let's look at this another way. If they'd had unprotected sex and she'd gotten pregnant, they would both be responsible for the subsequent child. If she had told him she was on BC but lied, he'd still be a legally responsible for the kid because it was his decision to have sex without a condom, KWIM?
Posted by mandapanda78[/QUOTE]

We don't know the whole story though. She was obviously hiding the fact that she had HIV. If her partners asked her if she had HIV or anything else, and she said no, does that change the responsibility?

AmoroAgain · August 2010

I think the issue here is her *intent* wasn't to spread HIV. Now, if she was maliciously *trying* to spread it around to as many peopls as she could, that's where you start talking about jail time.

Is she stupid? Most definitely. But I don't think she was actively tryin to kill people.

mandapanda78 · August 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_jail-time-spreading-hiv?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:e1a7fdc5-4ac0-44b6-ac04-310061d5d841Post:c8822f48-c2e8-4f18-a242-5463872c24c5">Re: Jail time for spreading HIV?</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Jail time for spreading HIV? : We don't know the whole story though. She was obviously hiding the fact that she had HIV. If her partners asked her if she had HIV or anything else, and she said no, does that change the responsibility?
Posted by xyrius[/QUOTE]

<div>Does it make a father no longer responsible if he asks if you're on birth control and you lie and say yes?</div>

xyrius · August 2010

Drunk drivers don't "intend" to kill people either, but when they do - they are 100% responsible.

I just feel for the man who contracted HIV. He's going to have this for the rest of his life, possibly even die from it, and she gets a slap on the wrist. There is no justice in this.

Jail time for spreading HIV?

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