A 29-year-old Waukegan man was arrested and charged with criminal transmission of the HIV virus to a minor he met on a dating app.
Marcus E. Davis is accused of engaging in repeated instances of unprotected sex with a 16-year-old boy and infecting him with HIV.
Davis is charged with three counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a minor, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
The boy’s parents contacted the Sheriff’s Office in June after they discovered their son had hooked up with Davis since he was 15.
During their investigation detectives determined that Davis drove to the boy’s home and engaged in sex acts there, as well as engaging in anal intercourse at Davis’ north suburb home.
Davis, who knew he was HIV-positive, did not inform the teenager of his HIV status until after the two had engaged in unprotected sex on several occasions.
The victim contracted HIV from Davis, officials said, according to CBS2 Chicago.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said the minor met Davis through an online dating app. Officials are warning parents to be aware of the apps on their children’s phones and who they are in contact with.
Davis is being held on $100,000 bail in the Lake County Jail. His next court date is scheduled for Oct. 31.
Over one million people are currently infected with HIV in the U.S. according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.
HIV is still considered a life sentence due to the lifelong treatment necessary to keep the viral load count low enough to be undetected. The virus can lay dormant inside internal organs for years.
