Clayton James “CJ” Palmer, a transgender prostitute, was found guilty Friday of knowingly infecting a client with HIV in Australia.
Palmer, who used the name “Sienna Fox” professionally, had unprotected sex with the victim multiple times in 2014 and 2015. The client, whose name was not made public, was diagnosed with HIV in September, 2015, according to Australia‘s ABC News.
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The victim first answered Palmer’s online ad in November 2014. The prosecution said Palmer learned from a nurse that she was HIV positive two months earlier. She allegedly refused offers to keep in contact with the nurse, and instead continued to see clients.
The prosecution argued that Palmer, who has male genitals, was criminally negligent and did not take any measures to protect the client when she had penetrative sex with him.
Palmer said she did not do anything wrong and denied that a nurse told her about the diagnosis. She argued that the victim got HIV from someone else.
It took the jury four hours of deliberation before finding her guilty on charges of causing grievous bodily harm. She will be sentenced on Feb. 16.
Before the case went to the jury, both the prosecution and Palmer’s attorney, Simon Freitag, urged the jury to only focus on the facts of the case and ignore their feelings about prostitution and transgender people.
“You are going to hear some words that you would not normally hear in polite company,” Freitag said, reports Perth Now. “Whether you are a sex worker, a lawyer, an accountant, whatever, if you drive trucks for a living, in this court you have the same rights. Treat Ms Palmer in the same way you would treat her if you heard she was an accountant.”
Palmer asked to be released on bail, but the judge refused. She is being held in a men’s prison until the sentencing hearing.
Palmer already spent nine months in prison awaiting trail and her attorney said it was difficult for her to remain in a men’s prison. Prison authorities made “adjustments,” but they were not enough to make her feel comfortable. Freitag said she would occasionally be searched by men.
The prosecutor, Benjamin Stanwix, said Palmer should serve more time in prison though.
“It did involve a breathtaking disregard for the life and health of another human being over an extended time,” Stanwix argued. “The harm and the behaviour that was involved in this offence is of a very serious nature.”
