Gwinnett jury sentences HIV-positive rapist to life plus 10 years
An HIV-positive man was sentenced to life plus 10 years in prison on Thursday for raping a woman at a Lawrenceville psychiatric hospital.
Late Wednesday, a Gwinnett County jury convicted Wesley Randall Hatfield, 28, on charges of rape and reckless conduct, Assistant District Attorney Teresa Klein said.
Police said Hatfield sneaked into the room of a female patient at the SummitRidge Center for Psychiatry & Addiction Medicine on Sept. 2, 2007, and raped her while she was asleep and on sedatives. Hatfield also was a patient at the hospital at the time.
A nurse found Hatfield in bed with a sleeping female patient. After the nurse walked into the room, the victim reportedly awoke and discovered that her underwear had been removed. A subsequent medical examination indicated she had been sexually assaulted. She did not contract HIV.
Hatfield was prosecuted under a rarely used section of Georgia law that makes it a felony for people who are aware that they are infected with HIV or hepatitis to knowingly engage in sexual intercourse with another person without disclosing their condition.
