A Florida man was sentenced to ten years behind bars this week for spreading HIV to multiple partners by neglecting to disclose his status.
Rasheem Ikey Bodiford, 27, was convicted of three felony counts of having sex with another person without notifying that person that he had HIV, according to a news release issued by State Attorney Bill Eddins and obtained by the Pensacola News Journal. He was sentenced on July 26 to a decade in state prison to be followed by five years of probation.
Bodiford was arrested in November 2017, with authorities claiming that he had sex with two different women between September 2016 to October 2017 and did not disclose his status — which he’d been made aware of in September 2016 — to either of them, the outlet previously reported.
The first of Bodiford’s victims told police that he lied to her about his status when she saw him with HIV medication, claiming instead that he was selling the pills for his uncle, according to the outlet. The second woman told authorities in November that she’d been with him since August and that he never told her that he was HIV positive.
Video: Deceived into catching HIV
A third woman, who began dating Bodiford in October 2017, told police that she found out that he had HIV after hearing the story on the news, People reports.
Following a penalty procedure hearing held on April 10, a jury determined that Bodiford was a danger to the community, according to the Pensacola News Journal. Bodiford, who pleaded no contest to three felony counts, originally faced a maximum sentence of 15 years — five years for each count.
“He had HIV, he knew he had HIV and he had sexual intercourse with partners without letting them know his status,” Monica Daniels, assistant state attorney in Escambia County, told People. “The crime is the fact he had it, he knew he had it, and he knew he had to inform his partner and he failed to do so.” Man Pleads Guilty (Again) After Failing To Tell Women He Had Sex With That He Was HIV Positive
