Friday, May 19, 2000
Boy's AIDS a rare case caused by an assault
About a dozen young victims infected in U.S.
By Tim Bonfield and Janice Morse
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Butler County boy who contracted AIDS after being sexually assaulted by a Middletown man appears to be among America's smallest group of AIDS victims.
Of more than 688,000 AIDS cases diagnosed nationwide from 1981 through 1998, only 12 have been traced to children who were sexually assaulted by an infected adult. Until now, only one such case had been recorded in Ohio during that 17-year span.
“This isn't something we see very often at all,” said Victoria Brooks, executive director of AIDS Volunteers of Cincinnati. “In this area, children with HIV are less common than other cities. Most of the time, those children were infected at birth (because their mother was HIV-positive). It's tragic any time it happens, but to have it result from a violent act is just awful.”
The boy, who has developed AIDS, is in foster care. He is getting extensive medical treatment, and is being tutored at home because he has been unable to attend regular school.
Gary L. Cooper Jr., 40, was indicted in March on charges that he raped the Middletown-area boy in 1997, 1998 and 1999. He pleaded guilty to the 1997 rape, and other charges were dropped. He will be sentenced June 14, and police say Mr. Cooper could face murder charges if the boy dies.
Mr. Cooper told police he tested positive for HIV in 1988.
Two female relatives of the victim have been indicted on charges of obstructing justice, and one also faces a charge of child endangering. They tried to cover up the crimes against the boy, detectives said. Their names are not being published to protect the boy's identity.
Mr. Cooper also was convicted of attempted gross sexual imposition in 1996, but the gender and age of the victim weren't immediately available. He served about four months in prison in 1997.
Butler County officials said Thursday they are working to meet the boy's medical and emotional needs.
But in cases like this there are concerns for everyone involved, they said.
“It's always a challenge when you have children with a serious medical condition,” said Cathy Shackelford, an administrator for Butler County Children Services Board. “It's not only difficult dealing with the child and what they can understand on their level, but you also have the family, foster parents and then you have workers.”
Officials feared that, even though AIDS cases are relatively unusual here, they eventually would face a situation like this, she said.
“It's something that we've been concerned about for some time, that we would have to deal with this like some of the larger coun ties have,” Ms. Shackelford said. To her knowledge, this is the first case of a child with AIDS being under her agency's supervision.
In Butler County, only 141 cases have been diagnosed since 1981 compared to 1,404 in Hamilton County.
But AIDS cases involving children are rare everywhere.
Children under 13 represent about 1 percent of all AIDS cases diagnosed in America since 1981. About 90 percent of those children picked up the virus from their mothers during birth or from breast feeding, according to reports provided by the Ohio Department of Health.
Nearly all the rest have hemophilia or were infected years ago from tainted blood transfusions or organ transplants.
In Ohio, only one child AIDS case, in 1991, has been officially linked to child-adult sexual contact.
Unofficially, experts agree that more than two Ohio children and more than 12 U.S. children are living today with HIV infections caused by sexual abuse. But a reliable estimate is not possible because state and federal agencies do not track HIV infections as precisely as full-blown AIDS, be they children or adults.
A study in the medical journal Pediatrics published in 1998 examined reports involving 9,136 children with AIDS or a known HIV infection as of 1996. Of those, 26 cases were believed caused by sexual abuse by an adult.
Art Academy moving to Over-the-Rhine
Academy has grown in past 25 years
Kids get bum steer on flag etiquette
Boy's AIDS a rare case caused by an assault
Here's a chance to be in pictures
Stadium MRI was disputed
Cornea cases may cost $800K
Head of Covington Schools steps down
Tight Maifest controls vowed
Cities defiant over annexation bill
City tries to revive its gun lawsuit
GED test overhauled, will be tougher
Hearing-impaired studentwins award for achievement
Tell us about Memorial Day activities
DeGeneres stands up just for laughs
Dramas dominate Fox lineup
Welder puts life back together
What makes Jane win?
GET TO IT
Pig Parade: Snork-oink-eel
Queen City's moments to shine reflected in book
Bad beer boosts chemists' spirits
Batavia fire blamed on smoking, sleeping
Chiefs honor fallen peer
Deerfield divided on police
Festival salutes Underground Railroad
Fifth-graders study region
Foes in career argument
Jobs-for-grads concept touted
Kentucky primary a snoozer in these parts
Lockland, Hamilton get $500K
Man faces hearing in baby death
New bomb unit recruit is fearless, mechanical
Police across county win variety of honors
Students accuse OSU of racism
Tristate Digest
Two plead ignorance of tax law
Way cleared for complex to be built
