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Young rape victim undergoes HIV treatment

Thursday, September 21, 2006


By MIKE PERRY
Staff Reporter
A 5-year-old girl is undergoing treatment for possible HIV infection
after the man charged with raping her -- an illegal alien who was
previously deported to Mexico -- admitted he has the virus,
authorities said.
The case has re-energized some state lawmakers to push for tougher
penalties for people who commit sex crimes and knowingly expose their
victims to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
Julio Cesar Cruz Martinez, 32, of Fairhope is being held in a
segregated unit at the Baldwin County Corrections Center on charges of
first-degree rape, sexual abuse and sodomy, a jail official said
Wednesday.
Police said Martinez has confessed to some of the acts involving the
girl and to knowing he had HIV before the crime reportedly occurred
Sept. 13.
Officers notified the family immediately after Martinez disclosed his
infection, sheriff's spokesman Lt. John Murphy said.
"The child has been taken to medical services, where she has been
tested and is being given treatment to reduce the risk of the HIV
virus," Murphy said Wednesday.
HIV is a virus that destroys the body's ability to fight off illness
and is the cause of AIDS. People infected with the virus do not have
AIDS until they develop serious symptoms, but they are capable of
transmitting the virus through sexual intercourse, according to the
AIDS.org Web site.
Martinez has undergone HIV testing at the corrections center to
confirm whether he has the virus, Murphy said. The lab results are
pending and may not be released publicly, he said.
Deputies had questioned Martinez's identity, since he did not provide
valid identification.
Temple Black, spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
said Wednesday that Martinez is an illegal alien who has been deported
to Mexico at least once. The department placed an administrative hold
on Martinez -- requiring him to remain jailed -- after identifying him
by photo and fingerprints, Temple said.
If convicted of the rape and other charges, Martinez would serve his
sentence in the U.S. before being returned to Mexico, he said.
Baldwin County District Attorney Judy Newcomb said this week that her
office was looking into whether Martinez should face additional
charges for knowing he had the virus when he allegedly raped the girl.
Newcomb said such crimes typically fall under assault or endangerment
statutes, and she doubted that Alabama had a statute to enhance
charges against someone who knowingly exposed another to HIV or AIDS.
Many U.S. states have laws making it a separate crime for someone to
knowingly expose someone to the virus during a criminal act. But no
such legislation exists in Alabama, a researcher with the Secretary of
State's office confirmed Wednesday.
State Sen. Bradley Byrne, R-Montrose, said he agrees Alabama needs
laws that would make it a crime for someone to knowingly expose
another to the virus while committing a crime, particularly in cases
involving children. Byrne said he plans to push for tougher laws in
the next legislative session.
State Public Health Officer Don Williamson said Alabama needs tougher
laws to criminalize known HIV exposure, but lawmakers should be
careful not to dissuade people from getting tested for the disease.
"The known exposure of another party by somebody who is HIV infected,
without warning them or taking precautions, is immoral and
reprehensible. We need to figure a way to deal with that," Williamson
said.
Lawmakers should be careful to create rehabilitative options for drug
addicts and others at high risk to HIV infection, so that get-tough
laws don't discourage them from getting tested, he said.
"For some people, ignorance of the law is an excuse," Williamson said.
"If they never find out they are infected then they can't be charged
with knowingly exposing somebody."
2006 The Mobile Register

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