May 28, 2009

HIV-Positive Texas Man Found Guilty of Aggravated Assault

A jury recently found Philippe Padieu, a martial art instructor from Frisco, Texas, guilty of six counts of aggravated assault for having unprotected sex with at least six women and not disclosing his HIV-positive status, The Dallas Morning News reports.

According to prosecutors, one of the 53-year-old Padieu’s partners has been diagnosed with AIDS while five other have tested HIV positive.

“It’s as if he took a gun and shot all of them,” said prosecutor Lisa King during closing arguments. “But a gunshot wound heals. In this case, he gave them a virus that causes a disease that may well kill them.”

Bennie House, Padieu’s defense attorney, argued that “there’s a certain amount of desperation” in North Texas’s older crowd who are on the dating scene. “They asked Mr. Padieu if he was safe; he said yes,” House said.

“He’s in denial,” House added. “Mr. Padieu is not a predator…. He likes sex.”

During the trial, Padieu never testified on his own behalf. On May 29, he may be sentenced from five to 99 years in prison on each of the six counts.

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Gail, Atlanta, 2009-06-04 16:44:23
In this day and time we all have to be responsible. I am not condoning what this man did, but these women should have used protection or requested that he along with themselves be tested. Evidently one of them was already infected, because you first have to contract the virus. AIDS is something that comes after the virus has attacked the immune system for a number of years. This is not totally his fault. They had a choice and took a chance.