Man Charged In Md. HIV Exposure Case Freed On Bond
BETHESDA, Md. (AP) -- A Virginia man arrested on charges of having unprotected sex with two women in Maryland without telling them he was HIV-positive has been released on bond until his trial.
Daniel Cleaves of Richmond posted the $5,000 bond Monday after a Montgomery County judge set numerous conditions on his release, including that he have no contact with women under 14 and stay at his mother's home except for treatment and meetings with his attorneys.
Cleaves, 28, is charged with knowingly exposing two women to HIV. Police say Cleaves had sex with the women on separate nights in August and September after meeting them at the same bar in downtown Bethesda.
Jessica Hall, Montgomery County assistant state's attorney, had argued in court Monday that Cleaves was a threat to public safety and may have exposed even more women to the virus.
"Our concern, quite frankly, is that he is a serial offender in that he continues to engage in this behavior with numerous victims in Maryland, as well as Virginia," Hall said, according to The Washington Post.
Cleaves' attorney, Andrew Jezic, said his client, a recovering alcohol, had sex with the women after he "fell off the wagon" following four years of sobriety.
Cleaves no longer poses a threat and is committed to staying clean, Jezic said.
Both women exposed to HIV after having sex with Cleaves are on medication to help prevent them from contracting the virus, attorneys and court records say.
Josh Berman, an attorney who represents one of the woman, said his client has had negative HIV tests but has been told by doctors that she should continue to be tested for six months.
"She's scared for her health," he said. "What she's going through is something no one should have to go through."
(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
