A man who knew he had HIV before having unprotected sex with two women he met at a Bethesda bar was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Monday.
Daniel Cleaves, 28, pleaded guilty to two counts of reckless endangerment earlier this month. His attorneys argued for no additional prison time, but a judge sentenced him to the 18 months, plus five years probation.
Charging documents say Cleaves met his first victim on July 25, 2014 at Flanagan’s Harp & Fiddle on Cordell Avenue. The two had unprotected sex multiple times over a three-day period.
Later, the woman found medical records in one of Cleaves’ bags that showed the Virginia man was HIV positive.
After news of the arrest in October, a second victim told police that she had unprotected sex with Cleaves twice after meeting him at the same bar in September.
Neither of the two victims, one who spoke in court on Monday, have tested positive for HIV. But one of the victims said she will have to get tested every three months until August 2016. She also said she has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after the incident.
Cleaves asked for leniency from the judge and his attorney said Cleaves has been using HIV drugs that make the chances of transferring the virus almost non-existent. The attorney, Andrew Jezic, also showed results from a test Cleaves took in February in which HIV was not detected.
Via MCP
