South Dakota Teen Arrested for Exposing Another Person to HIV

An HIV-positive man at Huron University in South Dakota has been jailed for exposing a person he had sex with to HIV. A law enacted in July 2000 makes it a crime for someone who knows he or she is infected with HIV to intentionally expose someone else to the virus.

Chicago native Nikko Briteramos, 18, a freshman basketball player, was arrested Tuesday and is in the Beadle County Jail in lieu of $10,000 cash bond. He was granted a court-appointed attorney, and a court appearance could be scheduled as early as Friday, said Mike Moore, Beadle County state's attorney. Moore will have to prove that Briteramos knew he was HIV-positive before engaging in sex with the alleged victims. Authorities allege that Briteramos had sexual contact with two people whom the South Dakota Department of Health (SDDH) said are HIV-positive. While the SDDH alleges that Briteramos did have sexual contact with the two, they cannot confirm if Briteramos was the source of either case. The charges stem from five instances of contact with only one person.

Authorities said Briteramos tested positive for HIV when he tried to donate blood last month in Huron. There is nothing to indicate Briteramos knew he was HIV-positive when he tried to donate blood, said SDDH official Bonnie Jameson. There is no evidence that Briteramos had sex with the other two after he learned he was HIV-positive, said Chief Deputy Attorney General Larry Long. SDDH officials interviewed Briteramos to find out who his sex partners were, and contacted them to ask the same questions. "There was a perceived threat of continued exposure…and the law gives the department the authority to act to stop that exposure," said Doneen Hollingsworth, SDDH secretary.

A total of 50 sexual partners have been identified from the three cases. None of the 50 is under 18, Jameson said. Test results are not back yet on all of them.

Back to other CDC news for April 26, 2002

Previous Updates