Edgard Monge
Encyclopedia
Edgard Monge is a native of Nicaragua
who is currently serving a ten-year sentence in Kingston Penitentiary
, Ontario
, Canada
, for four counts of aggravated assault
after he knowingly had unprotected sex while HIV
infected and failed to inform his four sexual partners. Two of his partners also became infected with HIV. One of the two had a child from the union with Monge and the child also contracted HIV. (He was also convicted of one count of unlawfully causing bodily harm to the baby by having unprotected sex with her mother.
complications in November 1999. She contracted the virus from a blood transfusion in Nicaragua in 1981. He learned he was HIV positive in November 1999, shortly before his wife died.
Monge commenced his first sexual relationship in January 2000, even though a doctor warned him of the risks and told him to reveal his HIV status to potential partners and to use a condom
.
Monge explained that he did not inform his sexual partners because he did not have time and because several of the women were too immature to handle the problem. The sentencing judge called the explanations "pathetic".
According to the evidence presented in court, Monge had the following overlapping unprotected sexual relationships with women:
In the case of Victim #2, who became pregnant from Monge, he did not tell her he was HIV positive during their relationship and did not tell her after learning she was pregnant. This prevented the mother from taking medication that might have reduced the risk of transmission of the virus to her baby girl during pregnancy. She also practised breastfeeding
, perhaps unknowingly passing the virus to the baby girl that way.
According to the evidence presented in court, when one victim broke up with him Monge told her "I gave you a present that no other guy can give you. I gave you AIDS".
Monge knew he was HIV positive and took precautions to protect his four children, for example wearing latex gloves when he cooked and letting another sibling shower his youngest daughter.
Soon to be released from prison (Frontenac Institution) Kingston Ontario, Monge has met a women at a church he goes to on Sunday. They plan on being married. CSC( Correctional Services of Canada) Has denied his request for marriage. Once released the wedding will occur. Monge and future wife plan on residing in Nicaragua.
sentenced Monge to ten years in prison.
The judge said:
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
who is currently serving a ten-year sentence in Kingston Penitentiary
Kingston Penitentiary
Kingston Penitentiary is a maximum security prison located in Kingston, Ontario between King Street West and Lake Ontario....
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, for four counts of aggravated assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
after he knowingly had unprotected sex while HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
infected and failed to inform his four sexual partners. Two of his partners also became infected with HIV. One of the two had a child from the union with Monge and the child also contracted HIV. (He was also convicted of one count of unlawfully causing bodily harm to the baby by having unprotected sex with her mother.
Sexual relationships
Monge contracted HIV from his late wife, who died of AIDSAIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
complications in November 1999. She contracted the virus from a blood transfusion in Nicaragua in 1981. He learned he was HIV positive in November 1999, shortly before his wife died.
Monge commenced his first sexual relationship in January 2000, even though a doctor warned him of the risks and told him to reveal his HIV status to potential partners and to use a condom
Condom
A condom is a barrier device most commonly used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted diseases . It is put on a man's erect penis and physically blocks ejaculated semen from entering the body of a sexual partner...
.
Monge explained that he did not inform his sexual partners because he did not have time and because several of the women were too immature to handle the problem. The sentencing judge called the explanations "pathetic".
According to the evidence presented in court, Monge had the following overlapping unprotected sexual relationships with women:
- Victim #1: January 1, 2000 - June 30, 2000. She tested negative for HIV.
- Victim #2: June 1, 2000 - May 30, 2001. She is now HIV positive. She became pregnant and her baby contracted HIV.
- Victim #3: January 1, 2001 - June 30, 2001. Victim #3 was a teenager. She tested negative for HIV, but developed a sexually transmitted diseaseSexually transmitted diseaseSexually transmitted disease , also known as a sexually transmitted infection or venereal disease , is an illness that has a significant probability of transmission between humans by means of human sexual behavior, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex...
. - Victim #4: February 1, 2001 - April 30, 2001. Met Monge at church. Tested HIV positive in September 2001.
In the case of Victim #2, who became pregnant from Monge, he did not tell her he was HIV positive during their relationship and did not tell her after learning she was pregnant. This prevented the mother from taking medication that might have reduced the risk of transmission of the virus to her baby girl during pregnancy. She also practised breastfeeding
Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding is the feeding of an infant or young child with breast milk directly from female human breasts rather than from a baby bottle or other container. Babies have a sucking reflex that enables them to suck and swallow milk. It is recommended that mothers breastfeed for six months or...
, perhaps unknowingly passing the virus to the baby girl that way.
According to the evidence presented in court, when one victim broke up with him Monge told her "I gave you a present that no other guy can give you. I gave you AIDS".
Monge knew he was HIV positive and took precautions to protect his four children, for example wearing latex gloves when he cooked and letting another sibling shower his youngest daughter.
Soon to be released from prison (Frontenac Institution) Kingston Ontario, Monge has met a women at a church he goes to on Sunday. They plan on being married. CSC( Correctional Services of Canada) Has denied his request for marriage. Once released the wedding will occur. Monge and future wife plan on residing in Nicaragua.
Sentence
On June 27, 2002, Justice Steve Glithero of the Ontario Superior Court of JusticeOntario Superior Court of Justice
The Superior Court of Justice is the superior court of general jurisdiction for the Province of Ontario, Canada. It is the successor to the former Ontario Court of Justice , and was created on April 19, 1999...
sentenced Monge to ten years in prison.
The judge said:
"This is a man who carried on four sexual affairs of significant length involving frequent sex ... He knowingly and repeatedly risked the very lives of four women and a child by his callous actions which persisted over months. He's largely responsible for the ruination of three lives. The effect of his actions is tragic and immense. ... His actions show a callous and cruel disregard for his own flesh and blood. ... One must ask why he would date women as prospective wives and mothers, yet knowingly expose them to the risk of infection with the same condition that had resulted in the death of his wife. ... None of these were one-night stands."
Sources
- "Man gets 10 years in K-W HIV case," Kitchener Waterloo Record, p. A1, June 28, 2002
- "K-W man guilty of infecting women and baby with HIV," Kitchener Waterloo Record, p. A1 April 3, 2002
- "Young mother, baby cope with HIV," Kitchener Waterloo Record, p. A4, April 3, 2002
- "Man with HIV Who Had Unprotected Sex Imprisoned," Guelph Daily Mercury, p. A2 June 28, 2002
- "Canada: Man With HIV Who Had Unprotected Sex Imprisoned," The Body July 2, 2002
- http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/therecord/access/430190501.html?dids=430190501:430190501&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Jun+21%2C+2002&author=DIANNE+WOOD&pub=The+Record&edition=&startpage=A.1&desc=Woman+felt+%27betrayed%27+by+lover%3B+HIV-positive+man+withheld+deadly+secret+from+partners%2C+court+told"Woman felt 'betrayed' by lover; HIV-positive man withheld deadly secret from partners, court told," Kitchener Waterloo Record, p. A1] June 21, 2002