Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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United Press International; Thursday April 23 2:35 PM EDT
Brian Stewart of Columbia, Ill., pleaded not guilty today in a suburban St. Louis court. He is being held on $500,000 bond, charged with first-degree assault. His next court date is April 30.
The child allegedly received the tainted blood in 1992 while he was being treated for respiratory problems at St. Joseph Hospital-West in Lake St. Louis, Mo.
Witnesses said they saw Stewart smuggling a hospital lab coat into the boy's room. The boy's health reportedly worsened about two hours after Stewart's visit.
At the time, Stewart worked as phlebotomist _ a person who draws blood _ at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis.
The boy was tested for HIV in May 1996 and diagnosed with full-blown AIDS a short while later.
Police say Stewart questioned whether he was really the child's father and didn't want to pay child support. Tests later proved the child is his son.
The boy's mother told investigators that Stewart had told her not to bother asking him for child support because the child wouldn't live very long. Stewart was arrested Tuesday in the parking lot of a St. Louis University outpatient center, where he works as a medical assistant.
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