The Army has dismissed all charges against Colonel Jeffrey Pounding, a Special Forces officer who allegedly exposed a woman to HIV by having unprotected sex with her, reports Army Times.
The woman, who was not named in the article, said she has been tested for HIV twice and is negative. She did so after a public health official notified her that she had been exposed to the virus. She had a two-year relationship with Pounding, she said, and the two did not use protection and he did not disclose to her.
Pounding’s court martial was slated to start July 21; he was originally charged with assault, adultery and conduct unbecoming an officer. All have been dismissed.
A spokesperson for the Military District of Washington said the dismissal resulted from a court ruling earlier this year in a similar HIV case, titled U.S. v Gutierrez. In that influential opinion, the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forced ruled that exposure to HIV was not likely to produce death or grievous bodily harm and that the chances of transmission in that case were 1 in 500.
