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| Gary Wayne Carriker, 26, is charged with three counts of reckless
conduct for allegedly engaging in consensual sex with three metro Atlanta men
without disclosing that he is HIV-positive, according to court documents. |
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HOME > NEWS > LOCAL
By: DYANA BAGBY
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An HIV-positive man has been indicted in Fayette and Fulton counties on felony
criminal charges for allegedly engaging in consensual sex with three other men
without disclosing his HIV status, a violation of Georgia law.
Gary Wayne Carriker, 26, of Fayetteville, is charged with one count of reckless
conduct in Fayette County and two counts of reckless conduct in Fulton County.
All three charges are felonies.
John Withrow, the 25-year-old man whose complaint led to the criminal charge
against Carriker in Fayette County, also filed a civil suit in State Court in
February against Carriker, claiming he has “suffered extreme and severe
emotional distress arising from the fear of developing HIV.”
“This is not really a money case,” said Adam Jaffe, an attorney
for Withrow, who lives in Peachtree City. “Our interest is to make sure
[Carriker] does not do this again.”
Carriker, a medical student at Emory University, did not respond to an email
or calls to his home in Fayetteville from Southern Voice seeking comment. His
attorney, H. Clay Collins of Fairburn, did not return calls by press time.
In his April 2 response to the civil suit, Carriker denies the allegations
and requests the civil suit be dismissed.
Carriker was arrested in November in Fayette County for allegedly having consensual
unprotected sex with Withrow between Dec. 10, 2003, and April 30, 2004, without
informing him he was HIV-positive, according to an arrest warrant.
Carriker was released from Fayette County jail on a $5,000 bond, according
to court documents.
Fayette District Attorney Scott Ballard said Carriker was indicted in March
and that the case may be placed on the trial calendar in September.
Carriker was arrested in Atlanta on April 18 and again on April 25 and charged
with reckless conduct after two men alleged Carriker did not inform them of
his HIV status before engaging in sex with them in separate incidents. Carriker
was released on $25,000 bond.
Carriker allegedly engaged in consensual oral sex with one of the men between
Jan. 8 and Jan 25, 2005, according to his May 10 indictment in Fulton Superior
Court.
The man told police he had consensual sex with Carriker several times before
Carriker disclosed he was HIV-positive on Jan. 25, 2005, according to an incident
report from the Atlanta Police Department.
“[He] stated that he met Wayne Carriker in late December of 2004 and
they began dating and having consensual oral sex inside his vehicle” and
inside his condominium in Midtown, according to the March 28 police report.
The indictment in Fulton also charges Carriker with having consensual oral
and anal sex with a second Midtown man without disclosing his HIV status between
June 1, 2004, and Aug. 31, 2004.
According to the Fulton indictment, Carriker is accused of “knowingly
engaging in consensual sex without disclosing that the accused was an HIV-infected
person, thereby consciously disregarding a substantial and unjustifiable risk
that sex without disclosure of HIV infection would endanger the safety”
of the named partner. The law is seldom used in Fulton County, according to
a spokesperson for the Fulton County District Attorney.
Carriker’s Fulton case has been assigned to Superior Court Judge John
Goger but no hearing date has been scheduled, a court spokesperson said Wednesday.
Felony reckless conduct by a person with HIV is punishable by up to 10 years
in prison.
Withrow, who brought the reckless conduct charges against Carriker last year
in Fayette County, filed a civil suit against Carriker in Fayette State Court
in February.
Withrow’s attorney said the two men met online on or about Dec. 10, 2003,
and that Withrow asked Carriker several times if he was “disease and drug
free.” Withrow alleged in the lawsuit that Carriker told him he was HIV-negative.
The two men dated until April 2004 and had unprotected sex numerous times,
according to the suit. Withrow claimed in the suit that after they broke up,
Carriker told him he had lied throughout the relationship, that he was in fact
HIV-positive and was being treated for the disease.
Jaffe, Withrow’s attorney, said his client is undergoing repeated HIV
testing and has tested negative for the disease.
“He will be enduring real mental trauma for the next couple of years,”
Jaffe said.
No specific monetary amount is attached to the civil suit, but Jaffe said his
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