Defiant AIDS Victim Checks Into Hospital
A 30-year-old transient afflicted with AIDS, who had said he would ignore the city health director’s order to abstain from sexual relations, has checked himself into a hospital for treatment, authorities said today.
Fabian Bridges, who had boasted that he would continue having sex with strangers even though he knew he carried the fatal disease, was admitted to Ben Taub Hospital on Wednesday, police said.
Dr. James Haughton, city health director, had sent Bridges a letter Monday ordering him to “desist from having sexual relations and donating blood.”
Violating the health order is a third-degree felony, carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
“A person who deliberately spreads a fatal disease is a danger to others and should be subject to psychiatric commitment,” Haughton said.
Four undercover officers had been assigned to follow Bridges, but prosecutors said officers could not arrest him unless he solicited sexual favors from them personally or they actually saw him having sex.
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