HIV-positive man guilty for not telling partner about his health

A Toronto man pleaded guilty today to two counts of aggravated sexual assault after not telling his partner he's HIV positive.

The conviction is Ian Thomas Williams's second for knowingly having sex while infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

The first woman he infected was his wife, who died of AIDS-related complications in 2005. He served a year behind bars for aggravated assault.

The latest victim was a 51-year-old woman who had relations with him in August 2011.

The Supreme Court ruled in October that a person with HIV does not have to disclose his or her status to sex partners if he or she has a low viral load and the partners use a condom.

The ruling focused on the legal definition of "significant risk of serious bodily harm," in cases where consensual sex could be considered sexual assault if one party was HIV positive and didn't share that fact.

The court said this "'significant risk of serious bodily harm' should be read as requiring disclosure of HIV status if there is a realistic possibility of transmission of HIV."