Florida Man with HIV Sentenced to Two Years for Not Informing Sexual Partners

A man in Port Orange, Florida, has been sentenced to two years in prison for not telling his sexual partners he was infected with HIV.

“Gentry Burns, 27, pleaded no contest Thursday to one count of uninformed HIV-infected sexual intercourse. Two other counts were dropped,” WESH reported.

He will be put on probation for 12 months following his release from prison, the outlet stated.

The Volusia Sheriff’s Office detailed the case in an October 2019 Facebook post, writing that “Detectives confirmed through subpoenaed medical records that Burns was diagnosed HIV positive in January 2014.”

“Detectives also identified three victims who cooperated with the investigation and confirmed they dated and engaged in sexual activity with Burns without knowing he was HIV positive. One was diagnosed HIV positive in 2017 after dating Burns in 2016,” the post continued:

HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, attacks a person’s immune system, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“If HIV is not treated, it can lead to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome),” the site read.

Some individuals experience flu-like symptoms in the two to four weeks after infection. Possible symptoms include fever, chills, rash, night sweats, muscle aches, sore throat, fatigue, swollen lymph nodes, and mouth ulcers.

“But some people may not feel sick during acute HIV infection. These symptoms don’t mean you have HIV. Other illnesses can cause these same symptoms,” the agency said.

Due to Florida law, it is illegal for someone who knows they have a sexually transmitted disease to have sex with another individual without informing them of their illness, according to the sheriff’s office.

“Those diseases are: HIV, chancroid, gonorrhea, granuloma inguinale, lymphogranuloma venereum, genital herpes simplex, chlamydia, nongonococcal urethritis (NGU), pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)/acute salpingitis, or syphilis,” the post concluded.