A Western Australian man is facing court over charges that he failed to inform his sexual partners of his HIV status.
Robert John Harms, who is 28 years old, is charged with two counts of causing aggravated grievous bodily harm to men who were his sexual partners.
Harms appeared in the Magistrate’s Court on 7th March where he denied the allegations, entering a not guilty plea.
Police will claim that Harms was aware that he was HIV positive several years ago but did not take sufficient steps to protect people he had sex with. It is alleged that he passed on the virus to one man between early 2014 and August 2015, and to a second man late in 2017.
One man brought his complaint to police, while a second man was identified via the police’s inquiries. Harms has been in custody since he was arrested in January this year, and has not applied for bail.
The case follows the recent conviction of Perth woman CJ Palmer who a jury found had passed HIV on to a sexual partner. Palmer was sentenced last month to six years in prison.
OIP Staff
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