Sentencing has been scheduled for 3 p.m. on Jan. 16, 2008, for Robert William Richardson II of Lawrence. Richardson was found guilty Wednesday morning in Lyon County District Court in two separate cases accusing him of exposing another person to a life-threatening communicable disease.
The cases filed in Lyon County District Court in 2006 alleged that Richardson had had unprotected sexual intercourse with two women in Lyon County and had not told them he carried HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The charge is considered a Level 7 person felony.
Richardson had tested positive for HIV in 1998 and since June 17, 2003, had been undergoing treatment from Dr. Christopher Penn of Lawrence, according to testimony given at the defendant’s preliminary hearing in February.
Richardson later requested a trial to the bench, rather than before a jury. Attorneys for the prosecution and the defense last month stipulated to facts presented to Larson, and presented testimony from physicians on behalf of both the defense and the prosecution. Attorneys submitted written arguments in the cases earlier this month for the judge to review.
Late Wednesday morning, District Judge Jeffry J. Larson announced his verdicts in the cases.
A pre-sentence investigation by Court Services will be conducted prior to sentencing.
“Your cooperation is up to you,” Larson told Richardson.
Richardson already has been convicted of the same charge in multiple cases in Douglas County. He was accused of exposing a total of five women from both jurisdictions.
A Kansas law prohibits anyone with a life-threatening communicable disease from having sex, donating organs or sharing a needle with the intent of exposing someone else to the disease. The law originally was passed as a misdemeanor in 1992 and was increased to felony level in 1999.
One of the victims in the Lyon County cases testified at the preliminary hearing that Richardson had told her he was taking medication for a heart condition caused by a virus. She became aware of his true condition when she saw his photograph and read an article about him in a newspaper.
The second victim in the Emporia cases testified that she had specifically talked to him about sexually transmitted diseases and told him that she tested annually for them. He told her that he also was free of STDs, and months later apologized for exposing her to the virus.