HIV-positive man sentenced for aggravated sexual assault

A Cambridge Bay, Nunavut,man was sentenced to three and a half years on Monday for not telling two women he had sex with while living in Yellowknife that he has HIV.

Bobby Kaotalok pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated sexual assault.

The sentencing judge said Kaotalok "deceitfully" gained the consent of his victims, knowingly exposing them to potentially lethal consequences for his own sexual gratification.

Kaotalok, 27, was born at an outpost camp between Bathurst Inlet and Bay Chimo and has had HIV since birth.

Both victims said they would not have had sex with him had they known of his condition.

One of the women reported to authorities Kaotalok wore a condom when they had sex. The other said she was so drunk she was blacking out and couldn't recall if he used a condom.

Kaotalok has medication to control the virus, but didn't always take it, increasing the risk of transmitting it to others through sexual relations.

So far, neither woman has been diagnosed with HIV.

The judge said she took into account the grim story of Kaotalok's life. His mother and father died when he was just a child and he lived for a time with an abusive and alcoholic aunt. He also lost an arm in a car accident after dozing off behind the wheel.

Kaotalok has been in jail since being charged more than two years ago. With credit for that time, he has a year left on his sentence.

He is still facing one more charge of aggravated sexual assault in connection with another woman.