HIV-infected man given 7 years for sex with teen
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2012/mar/15/hiv-infected-man-given-6-years-sex-teen-ar-1768830/Credit: Andre Harvin
By: MARK BOWES | Richmond Times-Dispatch
Published: March 15, 2012
A 52-year-old career criminal who has been in and out of prison for
most of his life was given seven more years behind bars Thursday for
having sex with a 14-year-old girl while infected with the virus that
causes AIDS.
Andre Russell Harvin, who has convictions for robbery and other
offenses dating to the 1970s, was sentenced to 10 years in prison with
four suspended on his felony conviction of having carnal knowledge of
a minor, and to an additional year for having sex with a person
without disclosing he was infected with the human immunodeficiency
virus.
Harvin pleaded guilty to both counts in December under the terms of a
plea agreement. The latter charge was reduced from a felony to a
misdemeanor because there was no evidence that Harvin was
intentionally trying to infect the girl.
In sentencing Harvin, Circuit Judge Frederick G. Rockwell III told
Harvin that his actions were irresponsible, malicious and disturbing,
noting that Harvin's actions could have potentially resulted in a
death sentence for the young girl.
"You've got a multitude of problems," Rockwell said.
Authorities are still uncertain whether the girl was infected or even
tested for HIV. The girl's mother cannot be compelled to have her
daughter tested, and the mother has not advised authorities whether
testing was done and, if so, the outcome. The girl has since moved out
of state, authorities said.
According to a summary of evidence, the sexual encounter occurred May
10, 2011, when the girl and her mother were living with Harvin at a
home in Chesterfield County. The girl told police that she encountered
Harvin as she was leaving a bathroom in her home and he then led her
to a nearby bedroom, where they began to have intercourse.
She eventually asked him to stop because she believed what they were
doing was immoral.
Harvin, however, told police that the girl was the aggressor, and he
admitted having intercourse with her but said he stopped because he
had HIV and didn't want to infect her.
Harvin today delivered a lengthy statement to the judge, both
apologizing and accepting responsibility for his behavior but
bemoaning the fact that he's been locked up most of his life and
requires help for chronic drug and alcohol abuse and underlying mental
health issues.
"I do recognize that I have a problem," Harvin said in a rambling
address that chronicled his many brushes with the law. "I'm totally
sorry for what I've done, and not just because I got caught. I'm not
claiming myself to be victimized."
"I'm tired of coming to prison," he added. "I'm too old for this
foolishness."
Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney M. Duncan Minton Jr. questioned the
sincerity of Harvin's apology and his expressions of remorse.
The prosecutor said Harvin claimed in an interview after his arrest
that the victim was "luring me" to have sex so she could later "trap
him" and have him arrested, in retaliation for fatally shooting her
brother in Richmond a year earlier.
"I don't know that it was all that traumatic to her," Minton said
Harvin told a forensic psychologist about his sexual encounter with
the girl.
Harvin was arrested for the sex offense less than a year after a
Richmond judge dismissed a murder count against him at the request of
city prosecutors, who concluded Harvin acted in self-defense when he
fatally shot the girl's 18-year-old brother on May 27, 2010.
Authorities learned during their investigation that the teen had been
demanding money from Harvin for several months so that he could buy
drugs. On the day of the killing, the teen's mother and Harvin refused
to give the teen any more money, which angered the teen and prompted
him to force his way into the house in the city's Fulton area.
Armed with a knife, the teen kicked in the front door and rushed
Harvin. Harvin then shot the teen with a handgun that the teen's
mother had given Harvin that evening, according to evidence.
--
Truth resides in every human heart, and one has to search for it there, and to be guided by truth as one sees it. But no one has a right to coerce others to act according to his own view of truth. - Mohandas Gandhi
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