(submitted by Sagewolf)


VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) - A lawsuit that accuses a Virginia Beach man of intentionally passing herpes to his lover may have implications for a state law on fornication between unmarried adults.
Attorneys for a woman identified only as Jane Doe filed suit this month in Circuit Court, claiming that a Virginia Beach man gave the woman genital herpes after the two began having sexual relations in April.

According to the lawsuit, the man persuaded the woman to have unprotected sex many times and "intentionally withheld the fact that he was infected" with genital Herpes Simplex Virus 2. The woman seeks $5 million in compensatory damages, plus $350,000 in punitive damages.

The man, who is not being identified to protect his privacy, referred all questions to his attorney, Barry Kantor of Virginia Beach. Kantor was unavailable for comment.

The woman's attorney, Matthew W. Smith of Newport News, said the lawsuit could have far-reaching ramifications beyond this case.

In court papers, the man's attorney claims the woman broke a state law that forbids sexual intercourse outside marriage, and therefore she cannot claim injury.

The fornication statute says that "any person, not being married, who voluntarily shall have sexual intercourse with any other person, shall be guilty of fornication, punishable as a Class 4 misdemeanor."

Smith said the Virginia Supreme Court has ruled it is illegal to recover damages from an injury that occurs while breaking a law.

But he thinks that ruling will not stand up today. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned anti-sodomy laws in Texas, making unconstitutional all state laws that restrict sexual relationships between consenting adults, Smith said.

No hearing date has been set.

Information from: The Virginian-Pilot

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How about posting his face on a "Herpes Alert" billboard? Or would that invade his privacy too? Perhaps she could offer that up as a trade?

I have a problem with his lawyer's logic. That's not the intent of the statute, obviously. It's not like she broke her arm prying open a bank vault! If they wanna get technical and keep things fair, then charge her with adultry in addition to suing him for damages. And isn't he guilty of a criminal act too? Wreckless endangerment, assault, something?

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Though I am different from you,
We were born involved in one another.

For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul.

Complete surrender should not just come at moments in which one faces overwhelming odds, but in the calm when it seems one is personally in complete control of one's life.

There's a man here being charged for having unprotected sex without telling his partners he is HIV+. His picture has been all over the news & they're charging him with aggravated assault. I don't disagree with that charge.