Authorities last week locked up an HIV-positive man they believe may have infected dozens of women by having sex with them without first disclosing he has the potentially life-threatening virus.
Now, police, prosecutors and two victims are urging women who’ve had sex with the man, 41-year-old Danny C. Perry II — active in Nashville adult softball leagues for years — to get tested for HIV.
Metro Police and the district attorney’s office also said they will pursue additional charges against Perry if more of his sex partners come forward.
“Mr. Perry is a predator,” said Kate Boston Melby, the Davidson County assistant district attorney who prosecuted him.
“And we’re here for any victims who have the strength and courage to come forward,” Melby said. “We want them to know we’ll support them no matter what the circumstances.”
The prosecutor said there are likely dozens of women in Tennessee and other Southern states whom Perry exposed to HIV.
Authorities came to that conclusion after the victim who pressed charges discovered a series of private messages in Perry’s Facebook account.
Those messages revealed Perry had had sex with as many as 19 women in the last two years, authorities said.
Prosecutors accused Perry, who was married at the time, of infecting a softball league friend with whom he was sexually active. That friend, who asked not to be identified in court documents or in this story, said Perry never told her he had HIV, a virus that attacks the body’s ability to fight disease.
In fact, she said, Perry feigned surprise and concern when she called in September 2016 to say she tested positive for HIV.
In between multiple HIV tests, she asked Perry if there was anything she needed to know about his medical history, and he texted back “No.”
An investigation later showed Perry received medical treatment for HIV since at least 2009, said Det. Kevin Wiles of the Metro Police sex crimes unit.
And one of Perry’s ex-girlfriends, Nashville native Marvelyn Brown, testified at Perry’s sentencing that she told Perry he gave her HIV in 2003.
Brown, now a New York-based HIV/AIDS activist, wrote a best-selling book in 2008 called The Naked Truth in which she refers to the man who infected her only as “Prince Charming.”
But in court last week — and on her social media and in an interview with The Tennessean — Brown identified “Prince Charming” as Perry.
Brown said she felt vindicated and relieved when Perry was sentenced to jail.
“(I’m happy) knowing where he is so he cannot keep doing this,” she said.
“I feel better knowing and hoping other women will come forward.”
Authorities said it’s a felony to be HIV-positive — or to have hepatitis B or C — and have sex with someone without first telling them about those medical conditions.
The victim doesn’t have to get infected for a crime to be committed, Melby said, just exposed to HIV or hepatitis B or C.
Perry didn’t use a condom when having sex with the victim who pressed charges, according to the victim and Melby.
Bron: https://eu.tennessean.com/story/news/crime/2020/10/12/danny-perry-ii-hiv/3635529001/
Imaan Booster 