HIV-positive man who had sex with two women without notifying them about his infection gets 10 years in prison
PENSACOLA, FLORIDA: A Pensacola man has been sentenced to prison after he was found guilty of having sex without notifying his partners that he was HIV positive.
Rasheem Ikey Bodiford, 27, had been charged with three counts of having sex with another person without notifying the person that he had HIV in connection to his crimes, according to the Pensacola News Journal.
His arrest report from the Escambia County Sheriff's Office stated that he had sex with two women from September 2016 to October 2017.
In June 2017, one of those women complained to the police that she had tested positive for HIV and that her last sexual partner had been Bodiford.
She told investigators that she had seen the 27-year-old in possession of medication used to treat HIV and that, when she asked him about it, he told her that he was selling the drug for his uncle.
She also told police about the second victim, who was Bodiford's most recent girlfriend.
The second victim said she had been in a relationship with him since August 2017 and similarly said he had never told her he was HIV positive.
Bodiford was subsequently arrested, and when questioned, confessed to the authorities that he had known about his HIV positive status since September 2016.
In February, Bodiford entered a plea of no contest to his three third-degree felony counts, each of which carried a maximum sentence of up five years behind bars.
But under current Florida sentencing guidelines, which took into consideration the seriousness of the crime, criminal history, and other factors in determining an offender's prison term, the 27-year-old did not score enough points to warrant automatic incarceration.
"Under the current Florida criminal punishment score sheet for these three counts of having sex with another person without notifying that person that he has HIV, Bodiford did not score in the range that allowed him to receive state prison as a punishment," State Attorney Bill Eddins announced at the time.
"Since Bodiford did not score permissive state prison, the only way for Bodiford to receive a sentence of state prison was for the state to put the question of Bodiford’s dangerousness to the public before a jury."
So, a penalty procedure was held this past April 10 to determine if he should be considered a danger to the public.
An Escambia County jury concluded that he was a danger to the public, and this past Friday, July 26, he was sentenced to 10 years in state prison. He was also ordered to serve five years of probation after his release.
HIV virus targets and alters the human immune system increasing the patient’s risk of other infections and diseases. HIV infection, if left untreated, can lead to AIDS.