HIV-positive man charged in N.J. with sexual abuse

 

By Tomas Dinges/The Star-Ledger The Star-Ledger
on December 04, 2012 at 1:11 AM, updated December 04, 2012 at 8:34 AM 

 

Union County's Superior Court in Elizabeth in this 2012 file photo. Aristide Economopolous/Star-Ledger

 

ROSELLE PARK — An HIV-positive former resident of Roselle Park was charged with numerous counts of sexual abuse and failing to disclose his illness Friday following a joint investigation with Florida police, officials said.

 

Edwin Antonio Flores-Solano, 46, is charged with abusing a 17-year-old girl beginning in 2008 when she lived in Roselle Park, police said.

 

The abuse lasted through early 2012 even as the girl moved to Florida, said township police spokesman Sgt. Theodore Dima.

 

Flores-Solano was charged last week in Deltona, Fla., with committing unlawful sexual acts and not informing the victim he was HIV-positive, and is being held on $25,000 bail, Dima said.

 

Investigators then gathered evidence in New Jersey to charge him in the state Friday with sexual assault, sexual assault by force and committing acts of sexual penetration knowing that he was infected with HIV, Dima said.

Bail was set by a Superior Court judge in Union County at $400,000.

 

BESIDES, the charges of abuse, does he deserve the additional charges about his failure to disclose his HIV status?  Should it matter if the victim has in fact been infected with the HIV virus or not?  Please explain your opinion.