A man who spent five years in jail for exposing sexual partners to HIV was sentenced to life in prison for knowingly exposing another woman to the virus.Sean L. Sykes, 33, was sentenced Tuesday. He was found guilty in May of having unprotected sex with a St. Joseph woman without telling her he was HIV-positive. Testimony at his trial -- which was closed to the public to protect witnesses -- indicated that he had exposed at least eight women to HIV. At least three have tested positive.
"I think it's fairly clear he is a very dangerous individual," Buchanan County Prosecutor Dwight Scroggins said after the sentencing. "If he is not in prison, he would likely continue to spread HIV."
Sykes was convicted in 1997 of knowingly exposing someone to HIV. He was given the maximum sentence of 10 years, but was paroled in 2003.
Scroggins said Sykes has had "numerous" other unknown sexual contacts since he first tested positive 16 years ago.
"It's not an immediate death sentence," said assistant prosecutor Kathleen Fisher, "but that's what he's done to these people, his victims."
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