Man With AIDS Can't Explain Why He Failed to Protect Lovers

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1993. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Man With AIDS Can't Explain Why He Failed to Protect Lovers

Toronto Globe and Mail (Canada) (06/17/93), P. A7 (Hess, Henry)

An HIV-positive man from London, Ontario, told a court on Wednesday that he did not know why he continued to have unprotected sex with various women after learning of his condition. Charles Ssenyonga, who is charged with three counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm, testified that even after a test confirmed he was HIV-positive, he did not consider himself a danger to anyone. "I do not have a satisfactory answer," he told Justice Dougald McDermid of the Ontario Court's General Division in response to questions from his lawyer. "If I was able to explain this fully, I probably would not be sitting here," he added. "I was aware of the issue of HIV," said Ssenyonga, and even discussed it with some of the women he had sex with, but considered it something that "pertained to someone else." In addition, he said, "If I had thought I was a threat to them, I never would have done it." Reaffirming testimony from a psychologist who told the court that Ssenyonga was suffering from a mental condition called post-traumatic stress disorder that prevented him from realizing that he was endangering his sexual partners, he said that when he was with the women the reality of his infection "was not available to my mind." Moreover, Ssenyonga acknowledged that he had deceived public health officials and lied to his attorney by telling them he was no longer having sex, and he said he is now "in closer touch with reality." The trial was expected to continue yesterday.

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