“He took away my joy of living” | A man who passed HIV to a woman could spend around four years in prison

A man who turned his partner’s life upside down by unknowingly infecting her with HIV could spend almost four years behind bars. The defense, however, believes that a prison sentence at home is sufficient.

Luc Privatte Noubissi pleaded guilty last year to one count of causing injury to a woman through his criminal negligence. The 31-year-old man from Saint-Hubert knew he had HIV since 2014. Above all, he knew he had to take medication, but did not take it.

However, he never revealed this to the woman he was seeing. After a few months of unprotected sex, the victim began to have breathing problems and feel very tired. She was hospitalized for a month. It was there that she learned she was carrying HIV.

After apologizing to the victim by text message, Luc Privatte Noubissi took “his legs” and did not give him any further news. In 2021, he ended up telling her that he had “turned the page”.

“You should do the same. It’s true that I offended you, but it’s not the end of the world. I have read a lot about the disease, but I no longer have anything to fear,” Luc Privatte Noubissi told the victim, according to the victim.

Since then, the victim has been saddened by having to take a pill every day to “stay alive”. She also has to live with the “stigma and taboos” surrounding HIV.

“I was a happy woman who took no medication. He took away my joy in life. He was having fun, I was crying,” she told the Court in a letter.

A crime “with serious consequences”

Crown prosecutor M^e Jérôme Laflamme is asking for a sentence of 45 months in detention, recalling that HIV is potentially fatal, in addition to being the subject of a great “stigma” in society. “It has serious consequences,” he insisted.

Also, the offender’s risk of recidivism is “always present” and his moral culpability is “high”, underlined the prosecutor.

The penalties are high for such actions. Last winter, Montrealer Josué Jean, who transmitted HIV to two women, was sentenced to seven years in penitentiary.

The defense is seeking a sentence of two years, less a day, in community prison, with probation and community service. M^e Chantal Bellavance highlighted her client’s “remorse”, his social reintegration and the fact that he agreed to begin therapy to justify this sentence.

Judge Flavia K. Longo will deliver judgment next February