Former Oklahoma City man found guilty in serial HIV assault case

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) _ A judge in Washington has convicted a 32-year-old man on charges he deliberately exposed 17 women to HIV. <br/><br/>Anthony E. Whitfield, a former Oklahoma City resident, faces a

Tuesday, November 9th 2004, 5:37 am

By: News On 6

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) _ A judge in Washington has convicted a 32-year-old man on charges he deliberately exposed 17 women to HIV.

Anthony E. Whitfield, a former Oklahoma City resident, faces a minimum sentence of 137 years in prison.

He was charged with 17 counts of first-degree assault with sexual motivation, plus three counts of witness tampering and three counts of violating a court protection order.

Five of the women cited in the case have tested positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Health officials said that as many as 170 people could have been exposed to the virus because of Whitfield's actions.

During the trial an Oklahoma prison official testified that Whitfield was diagnosed with H-I-V while incarcerated in 1992.

Two women testified that Whitfield once said that if he had HIV, he would give it to as many people as he could.

Whitfield's attorney says his client was addicted to methamphetamine and used women for shelter, money and sex, but never meant to cause the degree of harm to warrant of first degree assault conviction.