HIV Positive Man Jailed for Deliberately Infecting Girlfriend

TEMPO.CO, Sydney - A man who has deliberately infected his girlfriend with HIV, who then unwittingly has passed onto another man, has been sentenced to at least three years for maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Chris Muronzi (44), Zimbabwean-born Australian had unprotected sex with a Sydney woman on five separate occasions during their nine-month relationship in 2002. Muronzi has never disclosed his already-eight-years diagnosis. For that he was found guilty since the law requires people with HIV to disclose their diagnosis to all future sexual partners.

"Overall I would classify the impact on my life as a 10 on the scale," the woman told the court during an emotional victim impacts statement in August. "More than 10 years after the event I'm still trying to cope with the aftershock this preventable disease has created."

The Downing Centre District Court heard on Friday that, being completely unaware that she was HIV positive, Muronzi’s victim then unwittingly infected her new boyfriend with the disease.

Judge Hock said Muronzi's actions fell into the high range of objective gravity for the offence, finding the emotional impact on his victim was "an aggravating factor".

However, her honor noted the 44-year-old had shown some contrition and remorse for his actions and found that he had "good prospects of rehabilitation".

He also received a 10 percent discount for pleading guilty and was found to have "special circumstances" on the grounds that he would benefit from a longer period of supervision, giving he was undertaking his first experience of custody at age 44. Judge Hock sentenced Muronzi to a maximum of four-and-a-half year's jail with a non-parole period of three years. He will be eligible for release on September 28, 2016.

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD | NATALIA SANTI