HIV-Infected Man Charged With Assault
http://www.komotv.com/stories/30572.htm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Article
'I Hope He Rots In Jail'
March 29, 2004
By Keith Eldridge
THURSTON COUNTY - Another local woman thinks she's just been given a death sentence.
She's afraid she's been deliberately infected with HIV.
"I hope he rots in jail. He's going to anyway, he has HIV," said Sarah Powers.
Her anger is focused on Anthony Whitfield.
Whitfield is charged with first degree assault on four women for having sex with them knowing full well that he was infected with HIV and had been warned by the health department.
Powers sat in court Monday just a few feet away from him. She's not one of the four victims, but she says she'll be victim number five as soon detectives talk with her.
Powers is still waiting for her test results to come back to see if she was infected with HIV.
"The odds of me not having it are slim to none," she said. "I've been involved with him before, and after, he found out (he was HIV positive)."
She feels betrayed by Whitfield, and now her life and the lives of other women are threatened by AIDS.
But why did he do it?
"I think, personally, that he found out he had it and he got mad at the world and said 'I'm just going to take everyone down with me.'" KOMO 4 News asked her "Why would he do that to you?" She replied, "I don't know."
One of Whitfield's friends said, "That's the kind of person he is."
The father of one of the other victims agrees. He didn't wish to be identified for his daughter's sake, and for the sake of his grandson. His grandson is the product of Whitfield's relationship with her.
"He's had a miserable life and the misery has been spread to other people," said the woman's father. "I feel sorry for him, I feel sorry for my daughter, my grandson."
Whitfield fathered two children with two of his victims who have AIDS. It is unknown if the children are HIV positive.
Since word of Whitfield's arrest spread on Friday, roughly 70 people have called the Health Department. It's not known how many are directly involved in this case.
There could be more victims Whitfield's home state of Oklahoma.
The Thurston County judge says Whitfield is a danger to society, and set his bail at $500,000.
I bolded the important part, but this is totally messed up. They're charging this guy with assault - like it's his fault that all of these women consented to unprotected sex with him. He's still a shithead, for knowingly doing this, but assault? Anywhere from five to seventy women just met some guy and said, "Okay, let's bang without protection!" Idiots. Anyone else see this story?