Judge Keeps Man From Pleading Guilty To More HIV Charges

Prosecutor Worried About Appeals

POSTED: 8:44 am EDT March 19, 2010
UPDATED: 8:52 am EDT March 19, 2010

FRANKLIN, Ind. -- A judge refused to allow a suburban Indianapolis man to plead guilty to more charges that he failed to warn sexual partners that he has HIV.

The Johnson County judge told Tony Perkins, 47, of Greenwood, Thursday that he needed to talk with an attorney first.

Johnson County Prosecutor Brad Cooper asked the judge to do so, saying he didn't want to risk the case being overturned on appeal.

Perkins pleaded guilty last month to two felony HIV disclosure charges. Prosecutors this week filed 15 additional charges against him.

Perkins is jailed without bond. He told the judge Thursday he didn't dispute that he exposed women to HIV and that "I really don't care what happens to me anymore."

Cooper said tests have found none of the women with HIV. If any do, current Class D felony charges could be upgraded to a Class C felony, which carries a sentence of up to eight years in prison on each count.

Police said Perkins intentionally tried to spread HIV by having unprotected sex with dozens of women.

Authorities said Perkins may have had sex with more than 100 women in the more than five years since his diagnosis.

Women who came forward after the initial story broke in February detailed their encounters with Perkins.

Most of them had met him at various bars in Johnson and Marion counties or on the Web site plentyoffish.com and had gone to his apartment to have sex on multiple occasions.

Police said Perkins also sent mass text messages to women in early 2010 asking for a sexual liaison.

From: http://www.theindychannel.com/news/22886405/detail.html#