HIV+ Man Found Guilty Of Infecting Others

Local News, By Nathan Heron, 1st August, 2008

A Melbourne man, Michael John Neal, 49, has been convicted of deliberately trying to infect other people with HIV. Neal was found guilty on 15 charges, which also included two counts of rape and procuring sexual penetration by fraud.

The County Court jury returned their verdict yesterday, after a four day deliberation.

During the six week trial, the court learnt that Neal hosted ‘conversion’ sex parties and wore a genital piercing to increase the chances of transmission. He met his sexual partners at public toilets, at an Abottsford hotel and through a gay website.

In Prosecutor Mark Rochford’s opening address, he claimed that Neal bragged about infecting a total of 75 people and that he told one of his partners that he “gets off” on infecting people.

The court heard that Neal was diagnosed as HIV positive in June 2000. In the years that followed he wasn’t honest about his status with his partners, telling some that he was negative, others that he wasn’t infectious, and to some he said nothing at all.

Neal had pleaded not guilty to 34 counts, including rape, deliberately causing another person to be infected with HIV, and attempting to infect. He was however, cleared of 11 charges that alleged he purposely infected two people with the virus.

According to The Age, he asked one of his partners during sex, “How does it feel to have a hot poz load up you?”

The prosecution team is pleased with the result, telling media, “Overall we are very happy with the result. It was a team effort. I commend the many victims and witnesses that came forward who had to recount some very private parts of their lives, which they did in the public arena, and should be commended.”

While there are certainly circumstances of this case that warrant concern, it does beg the question, how much responsibility should his sexual partners, or ‘victims’ take, in instances of unprotected, concensual sex?

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