Sydney - An African acrobat accused of having unprotected sex with several Australian women while being infected with HIV has had his Australian permanent residency cancelled and faces deportation, local media reported on Friday.
A spokesman for Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said that 38-year-old Godfrey Zaburoni had failed the character test under section 501 of the Migration Act and is currently awaiting deportation to his native country, Zimbabwe.
Zaburoni, who arrived in Australia in 1997 was accused of having unprotected sex with at least 12 Australian women, between 2007 to 2008 including with his Gold Coast ex-girlfriend of two years, without informing them of his medical condition.
It was earlier reported that he was diagnosed with the disease in 1998 while touring with a circus in Adelaide.
The former Australia Got Talent participant was originally sentenced to a nine-and-a-half year's jail term in 2013 by the Southport District court after becoming the second person in Queensland to be convicted of intentionally infecting someone with HIV.
However, in April the High Court overturned Zaburoni's sentencing after finding no evidence that he had intended to infect his girlfriend deliberately with the virus.
Zaburoni was then re-sentenced on a lesser charge, a five-year suspended sentence and had been released from prison with expectations that he would face deportation soon.
Note: this is a file video from 2013
On Friday, without specifying the timeline, News Corp reports that Zaburoni has been detained by immigration officials on Thursday night and will face deportation to Zimbabwe soon.
Xinhua