SINGAPORE: A man infected with the HIV virus was on Wednesday sentenced to 18 months' jail for failing to inform another man of his status before they had sex.
The 27-year-old former civil engineer was found guilty of one charge of contravening the Infectious Diseases Act.
He is also the first
person to be sentenced under the new Act, which was amended in 2008 to
increase the maximum punishment to a jail term of ten years and a
S$50,000 fine.
The court was told that the two men engaged in oral and anal sex sometime in January 2009.
The
offender did not inform his partner of the risk of contracting HIV from
him, despite being aware of the consequences of his actions.
In his mitigation, he said he found it difficult to disclose his HIV-positive status.
He
said the intention was not to harm the victim, but was one of
"self-protection" as he was afraid of being "abandoned by his social
circle".
He told the court his condition was under control by medication when he met the victim and that they had protected sex.
However,
the prosecutor for the Ministry of Health, K Kalaithasan, called for a
jail term of more than a year, saying the victim would not have engaged
in sexual activity if he had known about the man's HIV status.
The court also heard that the victim is currently infected with HIV as well, although the source of the virus is not known.
In sentencing, District Judge Siva Shanmugam said the nature of the offence was "grave".
He said by failing to inform the victim for his "own selfish reasons", the offender had "endangered the safety of others".
- CNA/al
Wait.... Isn't anal sex still illegal? How come the other guy also not jailed or something...?
A second HIV-infected man who had oral and anal sex with a 37-year-old victim without revealing his HIV status was jailed for 18 months on Friday.
The 48-year-old man, who is married, had admitted to engaging in sexual activity with the victim at the married man's home in May 2009 without letting him know the risk of contracting HIV infection and getting his voluntary agreement to accept that risk.
Last month, a 27-year-old former engineer - also HIV-infected - was jailed 18 months for sex with the same victim in January 2009.
The court heard that the older accused, diagnosed with the incurable virus in 2006, was fully aware of his HIV infection and the high risk of transmitting it to others through sexual activity.
-- ST