If you have discovered you have contracted a sexually transmitted disease, this can be devastating. The injury can be compounded if you contracted it from a partner who did not disclose to you that they had the disease. You should know there is legal recourse for you as a victim, both in criminal and civil court.

Criminal Charges

If a person knows they have an STD and fails to disclose this to you before encouraging you to engage in intimate contact with them, this is illegal and can result in criminal charges. This omission would negate consent because you were given no choice about the risk of engaging in sexual behavior with full knowledge of what it could mean for you, and it could be considered battery (the harmful touching of another).

 Each state has their own statutes on which diseases are targeted for criminal action and what type of charge can be given. Some states do not specify and others may name conditions such as herpes, HIV, tuberculosis, and other venereal diseases.  If you have actually contracted a disease, and/or if the disease is incurable and would result in chronic, severe illness or death, the charges would likely be felonies.

There are some states that allow for a life sentence to be given to someone who has knowingly transmitted HIV to another person. In most cases, however, a person can receive up to a year or more of incarceration or up to three years of probation for criminal transmission of an STD. An offender could be ordered to pay fines and restitution to victims, Once convicted, a person would have to also sign up their state's sex offender registry.

Civil Liability

In civil cases, it is considered a fraudulent concealment to expose another to the risk of contracting a STD. Your partner could be found liable if they either knew or should have known they had the disease and they have a duty to avoid potentially harming others, or at least warn a partner of a threat to their health before any physical intimacy occurs. If this person were charged in criminal court and convicted, this would help your suit.

Whether they are symptomatic or asymptomatic at the time of contact makes no difference.  They can be found negligent for not telling you. A victim can be awarded additional damages for the intentional infliction of emotional distress you would feel at being betrayed, the embarrassment, fear of the disease process, and change of lifestyle you would forced to undergo.

In a case in Iowa, a woman named Karly Rossiter was dating a dentist named Alan Evans who had an STD and did not disclose it to her until after they were intimate. As a result, she contracted the human papilloma virus (HPV) from him.

Evans was eventually found liable and Ms. Rossiter was awarded 1.5 million dollars. This is one of the biggest STD case awards ever given and the judgment was sustained even though the case went through two appeals.

Legal Support

To get legal support and compensation for what has happened to you, you need to consult a personal injury lawyer, like Robert M Kaner Attorney, promptly.