Sat 16 May 2009 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
Auckland's largest sex on site venues have closed their doors to the alleged HIV predator at the centre of allegations that he has knowingly infected a number of young gay men with HIV. Two gay men have told GayNZ.com they are sure they saw the man in his car near Karangahape Road, the centre of Auckland's glbt scene, last evening. He is understood to have hooked up with his alleged victims, most of whom seem to have had some sort of emotional relationship with him and who are as young as 17, through the internet and at gay venues. He shut down his internet dating profiles soon after being contacted by GayNZ.com mid last week. "He will definitely not be admitted to Centurian sauna," says owner Liam Slater. Staff at Centurian, which is located on a side street just off Karangahape Road, believe they have visually identified the man at the centre of the allegations and at this stage think he looks familiar but are unsure whether he has been a customer. "As more staff report for duty we may be able to be more certain," says Slater, "but, regardless, he is not welcome here." Lateshift owner Jay Bennie says the man has not been seen at the venue in the past few days. "If he arrives here we will not be letting him in," says Bennie, whose venue is three blocks south of Karangahape Road. "His alleged determination to have unsafe sex with young men is way beyond unacceptable," he says, "and until this matter is cleared up we cannot take the risk of having him here." It is understood the man, who lives in the city fringe area not far from Karangahape Road, is not familiar to staff of the downtown Westside sauna. A co-owner of Urge Bar, a venue some GayNZ.com informants believe they have seen the alleged predator at in the past, says the man would not be banned from the bar. Alan Granville says Urge has worked out who the man is "and we would keep a close eye on him." Granville says it is important to bear in mind that nothing has yet been legally proven against the man. The owner of Family bar and the Family and Naval pub on Karangahape Road could not be contacted this evening. However, owner Wayne Clark said yesterday he was very concerned about the situation and would be developing a policy as to how his staff should handle any appearance by the alleged predator. Police diversity liaison officer Brent Clark says he understands the venue operators' concerns and advises that any business is within its legal rights to deny admission. "This is a difficult time," he says, given that the police formal investigation started just yesterday, when a formal complaint was lodged by a young man who believes he was knowingly infected by the 'predator'."But the trespass laws give anyone who is the legal occupant of a property the right to deny admission or require someone to leave," says Clark. Clark and his Auckland police colleagues are urging anyone who thinks they might have information on the man's alleged unsafe sexual habits to contact Detective Sergeant Andy Bell of the Adult Sexual Assault Team on (09) 302 6611. The man, who cannot yet be named and has been described in recent days as evil, manipulative and cunning, is a pakeha male in his 40s. A more detailed description can be accessed in the news story linked below. [Disclosure: Lateshift owner Jay Bennie is the voluntary Content Editor of GayNZ.com]
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Saturday, 16th May 2009 - 8:10pm