A Florida man with HIV must have sex partners sign on the dotted line before slipping between the sheets. Former stripper Jerrime Day, who hopped in the hay with a 16-year-old girl who later claimed she didn’t know he had HIV, was granted probation by Orange County Judge Deb Blechman under one condition: Before you get it on, get it in writing.
For two years, Day must nab a John Hancock from all potential paramours; the consent form has to be signed in front of a witness and filed with his probation officer. “The idea occurred in the context of having to make a quick decision on the case,” said Blechman, who agreed to the deal with Day’s attorney so that the 20-year-old PWA wouldn’t have to go back to jail. She said counseling might also have been an appropriate condition, but “trial judges have to act quickly with less information and input than is optimal.” If Day violates the sign-up clause, he could be resentenced. His attorney, Timothy Hartung, said signing on the bottom line protects Day from future partners who claim they were kept in the dark. In 1996, when Day chatted up his busy, HIV positive sex life on talk shows, previous partners cried foul. His remarks pushed Florida lawmakers to make it a felony for anyone with HIV to have sex without disclosing their status.
