Missouri man exposed 300-plus to HIV, police say

(CNN) — Prosecutors in rural Missouri have charged a man with exposing his partner to HIV and say he may have exposed more than 300 other people to the virus that causes AIDS.

David Mangum told police he had at least that many unprotected sexual encounters with people he met online or in parks since he was diagnosed with HIV in 2003, Dexter, Missouri, detective Sgt. Corey Mills told CNN. Mills said it will be difficult to find and warn those people, since Mangum “usually only knew his partners’ first names.”

Mangum was arrested after his former partner told police that Mangum had lied to him about his status, a police affidavit states. He was arraigned Thursday morning in Stoddard County, about 160 miles south of St. Louis, with bail set at $250,000. The former partner has tested positive for HIV, according to police.

Read further

Additional Reading

Saving yourself from HIV infection

2 replies

  1. Should we say that the man is innocent, as he was only having a good time, exercising his constitutional right of pursuit of happiness or does society has a stake in this to preserve the rights of others?

    If you acknowledge rights of others and societal role then read the following verse and the meaning does not have to be literal:

    This is a Surah which We have revealed and which We have made obligatory; and We have revealed therein clear Signs, that you may take heed.
    The adulteress and the adulterer (or the fornicatress and the fornicator) — flog each one of them with a hundred stripes. And let not pity for the twain take hold of you in executing the judgment of Allah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day. And let a party of the believers witness their punishment. (Al Quran 24:2-3)

    In my view this is a deterrent punishment meant to create a chaste society.

    In the present circumstances, in my opinion, punishment for adultery should be only incrementally introduced, like present day relative prohibition of smoking and should be only for public sex or sex leading to STD in an uninformed partner.

    As the societal norms improve some judicious changes in laws may need to be considered.

Leave a Reply