Carl Leone

Who is Carl Leone?

Carl Desmond Leone is a Canadian businessman from Windsor, Ontario. Leone was jailed after pleading guilty in a Windsor court to 15 counts of aggravated sexual assault for not informing his sexual partners of his positive HIV status. It is believed he has been charged with exposing more women to the AIDS-causing virus than anyone in Canadian history.

In 1997, Leone was told by Windsor Essex County Health Unit workers that he was HIV-positive. Seven years later on June 6, 2004, he was arrested. On June 10, police issued a public safety advisory that resulted in more than 100 people seeking HIV tests for having been a partner of Leone or possibly being linked to him. Under Canadian criminal law, people knowing they are HIV positive have a legal duty to disclose their HIV status before engaging in behaviors that put another person at significant risk of serious bodily harm. This is the result of the 1998 ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada stating that a partner cannot truly give informed consent if the other fails to disclose their HIV status.

Complainants said they would not have been Leone's partner had he been truthful about his status.