SAN DIEGO — A 30-year-old gay man pleaded no contest Monday to a misdemeanor charge of spreading HIV to a former boyfriend.
Thomas Miguel Guerra, of San Diego, faces a maximum sentence of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, said his attorney, James Fitzpatrick.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Kathleen Lewis set sentencing for April 13. Guerra remains free on $2,500 bond.
City Attorney Jan Goldsmith issued a press release afterwards, saying this case was the first such prosecution of “willful HIV transmission in San Diego County” since the state legislature adopted the law more than 20 years ago.
The former boyfriend of Guerra learned he was HIV-positive after having unprotected sex with him and he filed a complaint with San Diego Police in August, 2013. He had sex with Guerra in May, 2013, and learned he was HIV-positive some months later after earlier testing negative, the release says.
Guerra knew he was HIV-positive himself before having unprotected sex with the victim, according to the City Attorney’s office.
“I hope this case helps to educate people that it is a crime to willfully expose someone to an infectious disease,” said Goldsmith.
“The law is designed to protect the public and, in this case, enforce the right of one’s partner to know the truth,” stated the city attorney.
A no contest plea is the same as a guilty plea with the exception that it cannot be used as proof of guilt in any civil proceeding if Guerra is sued.
The City Attorney, which only files misdemeanor cases, filed the case in May, 2014, after a felony case was rejected by District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis. The single health and safety code violation says Guerra unlawfully exposed his partner to a contagious or communicable disease.
There is a protective order that bars Guerra from contacting the alleged victim. KGTV (Channel 10) ran interviews with a man in shadows when the case was first publicized, but it later turned out the man they interviewed was not the victim in the case.
