Tuesday, September 21, 1999
Hooker with HIV gets year in jail
Woman knew risk she might spread disease
BY DAN HORN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A convicted prostitute was sentenced to one year in prison Monday for soliciting sex after testing positive for the AIDS virus.
Patricia Proctor, 23, is among the first in Hamilton County to be charged under a law that targets those who knowingly risk transmitting the disease.
The Cincinnati woman pleaded no contest to the charge earlier this month and was convicted by Common Pleas Judge Thomas Nurre.
Prosecutors say Ms. Proctor, who is pregnant, offered to perform a sex act with an undercover Cincinnati police officer. She was arrested June 10 on Vine Street.
They say Ms. Proctor told the arresting officer she was aware she had tested positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Judge Nurre sentenced her to six months for an earlier probation violation and one year for soliciting sex after testing positive for the virus.
Her attorney, Margaret Stigler, cited her client's health problems and asked the judge for leniency. “She's faced many hurdles in her life,” Ms. Stigler said after the sentencing.
Valuable tool
Prosecutor Mike Allen has said the law, which carries a possible sentence of up to five years, is a valuable tool because it allows law enforcement to target the most dangerous offenders.
He said a positive HIV test often is not enough to keep repeat offenders from putting others at risk.
To get a conviction under the HIV law, which went on the books three years ago, prosecutors need more than a positive test from the defendant.
They must show that the defendant was aware prior to the offense that he or she was infected with the virus, which usually is sexually transmitted.
Many judges now order HIV tests for convicted prostitutes.
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