Texas Man Imprisoned For Giving Partner HIV

Fort Worth, TX – A man was sentenced to 15-years in jail for knowingly infecting his partner with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Jimmy Bernard Billingsley, a 42-year-old Forth Worth native, was sentenced by a state district judge on Friday for infecting his female partner with HIV, and he admitted to keeping several other sex partners in the dark about his HIV-status, reports MyFoxFW.

Billingsley met his victim back in 2009 when he was the coach for her son’s football team. She told police and prosecutors that he never told her of his HIV-positive status, and the two had unprotected sex multiple times.

During a routine health exam in 2010, she learned that she herself was HIV-positive and immediately went to the police because she hadn’t been with any other sex partners.

When detectives finally caught up with Billingsley, they learned that he received his HIV diagnosis in 2008, the year before he started dating the victim.

Billingsley chose to have State District Judge Robb Catalano assess his punishment, which ranged from probation to up to 20 years in prison. Catalano arrived at the 15-year term after hearing testimony from several people including Billingsley himself, reports The Star Telegram.

He took the stand to defend himself and admitted to having several partners since his HIV diagnosis during cross-examination.

“This defendant’s intentional non-disclosure to numerous sex partners was egregious, dangerous, willful and malicious,” said Assistant District Attorney Joshua Ross in a news release. “He is truly a snake in the grass. His sentence brings some justice to his known victim and provides a measure of protection for so many others.”