Ex-Wrestler 'Gangsta of Love' Gets 32 Years for Having HIV Sex
A former pro wrestler known as "Gangsta of Love" made some bad moves in bed. Now Andre Davis is headed to prison for failing to tell his sex partners he was HIV-positive.
Davis, 29, was sentenced to 32 years in prison after a Cincinnati jury convicted him of felonious assaults on 11 women, The Oxford Press reports. The charges stem from an Ohio law that requires people who are HIV-positive to disclose their status before engaging in sexual conduct.
The extent of Davis' deception isn't fully known, but prosecutors contend Davis may have slept with as many as 350 women while traveling the country as a wrestler. Davis' defense: He's a sex addict.
"I could not turn away from sex," Andre Davis told the court, according to the Kentucky Post. "My addiction started in high school. ... When I lost my job, the addiction got worse. I neglected my children. I didn't realize that until I was sitting in jail."
Davis, a father of five, continued, "Sex addiction is probably the worst addiction you can have."
At least two other Ohio women accuse Andre Davis of failing to disclose his HIV status before having sex. He's facing charges in two other Ohio counties, the Post reports.
Ohio is one of many states with HIV-positive disclosure laws for sexual partners. Some state laws call for manslaughter charges if a victim is infected with HIV after a partner fails to disclose an infection.
The law Davis was charged under doesn't require a victim to be infected with HIV. In fact, at Davis' trial, jurors were not even allowed to know the HIV status of Davis' victims, The Oxford Press reports.
Andre Davis apologized to his HIV non-disclosure victims in court, and said he never intended to hurt them. "I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want it to get back to my family," Davis said, according to the Post. "I'm not a monster like the media tried to portray me as."
Related Resources:
- Ohio wrestler gets prison for failure to share HIV status (The Cincinnati Enquirer)
- Civil Confinement for Offender Who Spread HIV? (FindLaw's Blotter)
- Roberto Alomar's Wife Accused Him of Spreading HIV (FindLaw's Tarnished Twenty)
- Browse Criminal Defense Lawyers by Location (FindLaw)
