Thomas Guerra Faces Charges For Intentionally Spreading HIV

Thomas Guerra, who was also known as Ashton Chavez, has been facing charges in San Diego for intentionally infecting other people with HIV.

A 29-year old landscape architect from Central California, Thomas Guerra has been charged by the City Attorney's Office for deliberately exposing himself to another person with HIV or Human Immunodeficiency Virus.

The California state law requires Thomas Guerra to inform all possible sexual partners of his infected status. He is being accused of having purposefully hidden the truth from a man with whom he shared a long term relationship.

The victim, Thomas Guerra's long term partner who claimed to have planned on proposing, was contacted by one of Thomas Guerra's ex-lovers on Facebook who warned him of his HIV infection. The knowledgeable victim started looking for evidences on Thomas Guerra's cellphone and came up with a lot. There were several text messages and videos from other partner which showed that Thomas Guerra is HIV positive and was intentionally spreading the virus. The text messages showed that Thomas Guerra was allegedly joking about his HIV status and how he retained it surreptitious.

The alleged victim, whose identity remained withheld for legal purposes, submitted himself for testing and turned out positive for HIV. He then went to complain to the authorities. The victim told the ABC10 News of San Diego through an interview warning other people about Thomas Guerra and claims to have evidences showing how the accused deliberately infected at least two dozen of other men, some of which were underage.

The San Diego court is anticipated to look at a 95-page file delineating the said evidence.

The informant is another man who dated Thomas Guerra and has provided the San Diego authorities with other evidences that could apt the City Attorney's Office to upgrade Thomas Guerra's charges to felony. Authorities however said that there could be dozens and potentially hundreds of other victims who's still unaware or their infection status.

As of today, even with biomedical studies, there is no known cure for HIV infection.

The charge for intentionally exposing another to HIV is a misdemeanor which carries a six months maximum in jail as penalty and a $1,000 fine. If the charges are upgraded to a felony offense, Thomas Guerra could face eight years imprisonment. All attempts by the media to reach Thomas Guerra have failed so no comments are available.

It seems that eight years is a short sentence for someone who intentionally infects others with HIV as was accused for Thomas Guerra. It is still everyone's responsibility to always practice safe and protected intercourse. Remember, HIV takes years for the indications to be noticeable. So be responsible.

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