Woman Charged Under HIV Prostitution Law
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A Hollywood prostitute Tuesday became the first woman in Los Angeles County to be charged under a 1988 law that makes it a felony to continue to solicit sex after testing HIV positive.
Patricia Ann Sweeting, 24, also known as Patricia Ann Walker, is the third person in the county to be charged under the law, which was designed to stem the spread of the deadly AIDS virus.
Sweeting was arrested Aug. 13 on Hollywood Boulevard near Hobart Avenue after allegedly soliciting a vice officer. Her case was sent to the city attorney’s office, but when prosecutors there learned that she had tested positive in a court-ordered AIDS test last year, they sent the case to the district attorney’s office for the felony charge. Sweeting was ordered to take the test after a Dec. 17, 1990, prostitution conviction. She faces a maximum three-year prison term if convicted.
The law was first invoked in Los Angeles County against male prostitute Demitri Santangelo, who was sentenced to two years in state prison.
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