Tuesday, June 20, 2006

A New Black Widow with an HIV Sting

In 2000, Sarah Jane Porter was diagnosed with Aids will giving birth to the child she had conceived out of wedlock with an Afro-Caribbean man. Upon learning this tragic news, Porter could have taken the brave way, and found a way to live her life.  Or perhaps she could have taken the defeatist way, and decided she didn’t want to live.  But Porter found a third way: she went out for revenge!

Porter, pictured right, decided to make it her mission to infect as many Afro-Caribbean males with HIV as possible. She began by entering a relationship with a man we’ll call Mr. B, and lying to her partner when he asked that they both be tested.  She said she had recently been tested, and refused to take the Aids test.  Her partner believed her, and they engaged in a five year exclusive relationship which included unprotected sex.

Or at least the boyfriend thought the relationship was exclusive; but in reality, Porter was going out regularly to dance clubs, picking up Afro-Caribbean men (and only Afro-Caribbean men), and having unprotected sex with them. Mr. B discovered her vendetta in 2005, and reported it to the authorities, who believe that Porter has had sex with dozens of men during her relationship with Mr. B.

But the story doesn’t end there.  They asked Porter to help them identify her sexual partners, so they could try to prevent an epidemic, but she refused, and to this day will provide no sexual history to the authorities.  And, when Porter was released on bail pending her trial, she went on another sex spree, again targeting Afro-Caribbean men.  

So how do you resolve a situation like this? Is jail for a woman like this cruel and unusual punishment, considering her disease?  What punishment could even be worse than the disease she’s contracted?  And how can you let a woman like this, with no concern for the health of others, run free in society?  I have no answers, only questions, including how a person can be so cruel.  Your opinions are welcome!

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Posted by Scottage at 8:38 PM / | |