Tue 16 Jun 2009 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
A suppression order on the public identification of the man charged two weeks ago with knowingly infecting several young men with HIV has been continued until this Friday and eight new charges have been laid against him. The court this morning heard that two more people have come forward to lay formal complaints against the man, bringing the total so far to six. The eight new charges laid against the man include that he "with reckless disregard for the safety of others caused - or attemped to cause - grevious bodily harm to five males aged 17, 20, 24, 26, and 31, plus a female aged 19." He also now faces charges of "wilfully and without justification or excuse causing in a male aged 20 and a female aged 19 a disease, namely HIV." Dubbed the alleged 'HIV predator,' the 40 year old man was remanded in custody at his first court appearance two weeks ago with Judge Josephine Bouchier granting interim identity suppression to enable him to advise family members and his employer. At a brief appearance this morning his lawyer successfully applied for the suppression to be continued until this Friday to enable issues relating to material posted on the internet which might prejudice a trial to be addressed. A segment from a TV1 Close Up programme which contains speculative comment on the man's behaviour and character was specifically mentioned. However, Judge Keenan then disallowed a defense request for suppression of this morning's courtroom description of the man as finding vulnerable young men on the internet and grooms them by building trust and isolating them from friends and family before engaging in unsafe sex. Detective Sergeant Andy King who is heading the investigation says it is conceivable that more possible victims will identify themselves once the man is publicly identified. The police say the man was diagnosed HIV positive in May 2007. The mans' alleged actions first came to public attention on May 12 when GayNZ.com revealed that a number of young men believed they had all contracted HIV from the man and that friends and family of the alleged victims were concerned that no official action appeared possible due to privacy laws and an outdated Public Health Act.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 16th June 2009 - 10:01am