Ottawa Police: HIV Transmission Is Criminal Act

An Ottawa man living with HIV was arrested and charged Thursday with nine counts of aggravated sexual assault after another man contacted authorities to report he had contracted the virus from him. Police plastered photos of the accused 29-year-old man on news telecasts and websites.

The case centers on Steven Paul Boone, who is HIV-positive. A younger man, who was 17 at the time, alleges that he and Boone engaged in unprotected sex at least nine times earlier this year, and that each time he asked about HIV, Boone told him he was negative.

The accuser says he found out that he was HIV-positive last month after getting tested.

According to the Ottawa Citizen, "The controversy centres around the criminalization of HIV-AIDS transmission -- a hot-button issue in gay and straight communities in Canada, especially after a historic 2009 ruling found a Hamilton, Ont., man, Johnson Aziga, guilty of first-degree murder, 10 counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of attempted aggravated sexual assault in the deaths of two women he failed to tell he was HIV-positive."

Read more about the case here.