DELAND, Fla. (AP) — Authorities in central Florida are charging a man with three felonies, saying he had sex with multiple women without informing them he was HIV positive.
The Volusia County Sheriff's Office filed the charges Thursday against Gentry Burns, who was in jail on unrelated charges.
According to the sheriff's office, the investigation began when one of Burns' ex-girlfriends came forward to report that "she believed she contracted HIV from him while dating him in 2013."
The sheriff's office states that this woman also reached out to Burns' other former partners to warn them.
Through subpoenaed medical records detectives learned that Burns was diagnosed HIV positive in January 2014.
One of Burn's former partners was diagnosed HIV positive in 2017 after they dated in 2016 according to the sheriff's office.
Under Florida law, it's illegal for anyone who knows they have any of several sexually transmitted diseases to have sex with another person without informing them of their status.
About 20 states have similar laws. Health experts and patient advocates say that rather than deterring behavior that could transmit the virus, such laws perpetuate stigma about the disease that can prevent people from getting diagnosed or treated.
Burns' lawyer from the public defender's office didn't respond to an email inquiry.
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