A Toronto man has been convicted of sexual assault after after he did not disclose he was positive with HIV to his new lover. Thomas Williams pleaded guilty for two counts of sexual assault.
This is his second conviction, after he spent one year in prison for killing his wife after she was unknowingly infected with HIV. She died in 2005 of AIDs-related complications. Williams was charged with aggravated assault in that case.
His latest victim was his 51 year-old female lover, who was not made aware that Williams was HIV positive. The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that a person infected the HIV does not have to disclose their status if they have a low viral count, and they use condoms. If there is “significant risk of serious bodily harm” where an HIV positive person may infect a healthy individual without their knowledge, then it could be considered sexual assault.
CBC states that the court said that ” ‘significant risk of serious bodily harm’ should be read as requiring disclosure of HIV status if there is a realistic possibility of transmission of HIV.”
Source: CBC