AEGiS-AP: Man Causes Teen HIV Scare in N.Y

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Man Causes Teen HIV Scare in N.Y

The Associated Press; 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020 - Tuesday, October 28, 1997; 3:02 p.m. EST
Carolyn Thompson, Associated Press Writer

MAYVILLE, N.Y. (AP) -- A man accused of infecting at least nine young women with the AIDS virus was "some sort of scorekeeper" who kept lists of the names of dozens of females he had sex with, authorities said today.

Authorities believe Nushawn Williams lurked near parks and schools in western New York state and talked young women into having sex with him, after he had been counseled about his HIV-positive status.

Williams last week gave New York City health officials a list of 50 to 75 names of women with whom he's had sexual contact, said State Health Commissioner Dr. Barbara DeBuono. She said she did not know where those people lived or whether they include his 28 known sex partners from western New York.

"He seems to take some delight in keeping records," said Chautauqua County Health Commissioner Dr. Robert Berke. "That's why he's been able to provide these contacts so thoroughly."

"It appears this guy is some sort of scorekeeper," Berke said at a news conference today with DeBuono.

The nine cases of infection in rural Chautauqua County include one girl who was only 13 years old at the time.

At least one man was infected with HIV through sex with one of Williams' 28 known sex partners . Berke said as many as 70 more people in the county may have been exposed that way, but the months-long investigation is still underway.

Williams' numerous aliases were being cross-checked with sexually transmitted disease registries to determine if he was responsible for any other infections in the state, DeBuono said, but that would take weeks to complete.

The Chautauqua County health department is being besieged with calls from worried residents, said a woman who answered phones today in Berke's office and wouldn't give her name.

Even though Williams is in jail, in New York City, there was fear as students were told about him at assemblies across the county in western New York on Monday.

"It was scary," said Ashley Seaton, 14, while leaving Chautauqua Lake Central High School. "They were saying someone sitting next to me might be affected."

DeBuono said she does not know if Williams focused on any other communities outside western New York state.

However, health officials have said Williams frequently traveled between New York City and western New York, and may have a large number of sexual contacts in other counties. They declined to identify them.

Whatever the 20-year-old man with braids and a slight goatee told the young women and girls he met, authorities said, it wasn't that he carried the virus that can cause AIDS.

"I don't know if this guy was a charmer, flashed money or what," Sheriff Joseph Gerace said. In some cases, Williams may have traded marijuana or cocaine for sex.

Investigators are trying to answer whether Williams intentionally infected his lovers. The oldest woman with HIV is 24.

Berke said Williams is suspected of infecting at least six of the women after learning he had HIV. He may have infected three women, and possibly a fourth, before learning of his infection in September 1996.

Four of the women Williams is suspected of infecting have been treated by Dr. Neal Rzepkowski, an HIV-positive physician and who lectures widely on AIDS prevention. He said one, who is now only 14, was initially depressed and suicidal.

Another of the women, who is 20, told Rzepkowski she had sex with Williams.

"This girl looks like your typical, good-looking middle-class kid," Rzepkowski said.

Williams has been jailed in New York City on drug charges since Sept. 23 under the name Shyteek Johnson. Chautauqua County issued an arrest warrant accusing him of raping the 13-year-old girl.

Williams, who was acquitted on a murder charge in 1995, is to appear in court Monday in New York City on a drug possession charge, said Tom Antenen, a spokesman for the city corrections department.

District Attorney James Subjack said he also would pursue charges of reckless endangerment and first-degree assault against Williams for each person he allegedly infected.

"It takes an individual with no regard for human life to do something like this," Subjack said.

More infections are expected to be reported now that Williams' name, photograph and aliases -- Face Williams and Face Johnson -- have been released.

"He liked to lurk around the edges of schools or parks, maybe where kids would be playing basketball, and pick out young ladies who may, for one reason or another, be in a risk-taking mode," Berke said.

Only a few cases have been documented nationwide in which someone knowingly spread HIV to 12 or more people.

In St. Louis earlier this year, about 30 women and men tested positive for HIV after contact with Darnell McGee or one of his 100 sex partners. McGee was killed in January. Police at first thought the slaying might have been in retaliation for passing the infection, but when they charged a suspect in August, they said robbery was the motive.

Copyright 1997/The Associated Press. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Permissions Desk, The Associated Press, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020.
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