New Zealand : Six years for non-disclosure to four women

A New Zealand court has sentenced a man to six years’ imprisonment for having sex with four women without disclosing his HIV-positive status [1]. According to news reports, Shingirayi Nyarirangwe is a refugee from Zimbabwe living in Auckland since 2001.

Hubble J of the Auckland District Court sentenced the man to three years in jail after he pleaded guilty to four charges of criminal nuisance and three charges of assault. The terms were cumulative, consisting of six months on each of the criminal nuisance convictions and four months on each of the assault convictions.

The judge said the number of victims involved and their anguish in waiting for their HIV results were aggravating factors. Nyarirangwe has been held in custody since August of last year and could soon be considered for parole because he has already served a third of his sentence.

Australia : Ten-year sentence for infecting three women

In Australia, a 28-year-old man has been sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for infecting three women with HIV [2]. Feston Konzani is an African asylum seeker living in Middlesbrough.

In 2000, Konzani was diagnosed as HIV-positive and was told to warn any future partners of his HIV status. The accused had sex with the women between November 2000 and August 2003, and failed to disclose that he was HIV-positive. Konzani was charged with four counts of causing grievous bodily harm, but he was later cleared of one of the charges [3]. It took the jury less than three hours to convict Konzani on the three remaining charges.

Fox J of the Teesside Crown Court sentenced Konzani to one four-year sentence and two three-year sentences to run consecutively. The court was informed that Konzani will be deported to Malawi after serving his prison sentence.

Australia : Man convicted on retrial

In another Australian case, a 37-year-old man was convicted for the second time of causing grievous bodily harm to a teenage woman by infecting her with HIV [4]. Ronald Houghton was diagnosed as HIV-positive in 1990.

The pair had sex over a four-month period in 1999, during which time Houghton failed to disclose his status. The woman found out she was HIV-positive after donating blood in January 2000. Although she confronted Houghton, he denied having the virus and produced false test results as evidence.

On 3 October 2002, Houghton became the first person in West Australia convicted and jailed for infecting a sexual partner with HIV. The trial court sentenced Houghton to seven years. On appeal, Houghton raised 15 arguments as to why the conviction should not stand. The Court of Appeal quashed his conviction and granted him a retrial [5].

At the retrial this September, the District Court jury deliberated for about two hours before finding Houghton guilty of causing grievous bodily harm. Sentencing is scheduled for late October. The maximum penalty for the charge is 10 years’ imprisonment.

France : First conviction for non-disclosure and transmission

For the first time in France, an HIV-positive person has been convicted for engaging in sexual intercourse leading to HIV infection, and not disclosing his HIV-positive status [6]. A Strasbourg court sentenced Christophe Morat to six years in prison for “voluntary transmission of a harmful substance leading to bodily harm or permanent illness†? [7].

Morat was diagnosed with HIV in 1998. The two complainants engaged in unprotected sex with Morat and were infected in 1999 and 2000. One of the women claimed to be allergic to latex condoms. The court first decided against Morat in May 2004. The decision was rendered in Morat’s absence and without the presence of legal representation. Because he was not present or represented by a lawyer, Morat had the option of opposing the decision and being retried. Morat entered his opposition to the judgment in June.

He was convicted after a rehearing, and the court took into consideration in determining a sentence the demands of public order and the need to prevent the further spread of the disease. The court decided that six years’ imprisonment constituted a “proportionate†? sentence in the circumstances [8].

Barbara Mysko