Rome - An Italian man who contracted the HIV virus and passed
it on to women he slept with was convicted Thursday of voluntary
manslaughter and causing serious injuries and jailed for 16 years and
eight months.
Claudio Pinti, 35, was tried by a court in Ancona, the ANSA news
agency said. His lawyers are considering whether to appeal, it added.
The man was arrested last year after one of his victims reported him
to police. She was a plaintiff in the trial. Another one, said to
have been Pinti's full-time girlfriend, died in June 2017, ANSA said.
Pinti has declared himself a "negationist" on the existence of HIV,
which is known to cause acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
Life expectancy for HIV/AIDS patients has greatly increased in recent
years, but the disease is still a major cause of death.
When they arrested him in 2018, police described Pinti as a regular
user of dating websites who could have infected more than 200 people,
having had HIV for more than 10 years. But his trial hinged on only
two documented cases.