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Sexual offense convictions would carry an enhanced penalty if the perpetrator is HIV-positive under a bill approved Friday by the House Judiciary Committee.

Committee members voted 9-2 in favor of HB369, which calls for a one-step increase in charges for offenses perpetrated by individuals with HIV or AIDS.

The proposal also would make it a class A misdemeanor to engage in otherwise consensual sexual activity if people fail to disclose their HIV status to their sexual partners.

Rep. Justin Fawson, R-North Ogden, said his bill's class A misdemeanor "nonconsensual sexual conduct" charge is comparable to a charge of reckless endangerment. And while treatment and medication can significantly minimize the risk of spreading infection, Fawson said, people still put their partners in danger by failing to disclose their status.

"There is no way to reduce the risk to zero," he said. "There's no way."

Equality Utah Executive Director Troy Williams said there are already criminal enhancements in Utah code for "bodily harm," which would cover the intentional or reckless spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

He said the state should encourage HIV-positive individuals to get tested and receive treatment and is worried that HB369 could undermine STI prevention efforts by focusing on status rather than actions.

"We should absolutely be enhancing penalties for intent and harm, but not the health status of the perpetrator," he said. "We would want to do everything in our power to open the doors to encourage people to be tested."

Rep. Dixon Pitcher, R-Ogden, asked Williams whether the state's compassion for a person who is HIV-positive should outweigh the compassion for a person who is infected without warning.

"It's unconscionable to me that somebody would have sex with somebody without disclosing what they are carrying," Pitcher said.

But Williams said compassion is not mutually exclusive, cautioning lawmakers against taking steps that target individuals based on their health.

"It is moving us down a path of stigmatizing and criminalizing people who live with HIV," he said.

Will Carlson, a representative for the Statewide Association of Prosecutors, said applying the law in court could be challenging, because it requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt that perpetrators were aware of their HIV-positive status.

"Proving that a defendant knew, at the time, that a sexual act occurred, may be problematic," he said.

The committee considered several amendments to the bill, including one that would have broadened the criminal enhancement to the transition of any sexually transmitted infection. That amendment failed, and Fawson suggested that additional changes could be made when HB369 reaches the House floor.

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