people, the epidemic multiplies itself
several times over, because these people
are also sleeping with others as well
According to the Dallas Morning News, Jimmy
Bernard Billingsley has been sent to prison for
aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury
after he admitted to sleeping with the mother of
one of his players without using protection. What
is unfortunate for the young man's mom is that
Billingsley had known for quite some time that he
was actually HIV-positive.
The man dated the player's mother back in 2009,
and for his despicable crimes, he was facing up to
20 years in prison. State District Judge Robb
Catalano gave him 15 years, where he won't be
free to harm anyone else for quite some time.
According to the Tarrant County District
Attorney's Office, Billingsley admitted that
he'd "been intimate on numerous occasions with
a woman he met in 2009 while coaching her son's
youth football team."
Upon finding out that she was HIV-positive, the
woman called police because he was the only man
she'd been sleeping with. She said that
Billingsley insisted upon sleeping with her without
protection and the woman eventually succumbed
to his pleas. This made her believe that he had
infected her deliberately.
On the stand, the man went on to admit that he'd
slept with several people since finding out about
his status and never told anyone that he had HIV.
That's when the judge gave him 15 years in
prison.
""This defendant's intentional non-disclosure to
numerous s*x partners was egregious, dangerous,
willful and malicious," said Assistant District
Attorney Joshua Ross in a prepared statement.
"He is truly a snake in the grass. His sentence
brings some justice to his known victim and
provides a measure of protection for so many
others."
When I first read this story, three thoughts came
to mind:
1) Jimmy Billingsley is not the only one.
Billingsley is not the only one to do this kind of
thing, he's just the one who got caught. The next
predator could be the person you allow into your
bedroom, so perhaps you will want to be
extremely thoughtful, patient and careful about
who you choose to sleep with. When I was a youth
track coach a decade ago, I noticed a few single
(and married) mothers who took interest in me,
likely because I took care of their children. While
I appreciated the interest, I was astonished at how
much trust I'd earned by simply having an honest
face and a friendly smile. The truth is that people
with friendly smiles don't always have your best
interests at heart – you must take time to get to
know them.
2) Jimmy's arrest is the tip of the iceberg on
the harm he has done to others: When
someone does infect so many other people, the
epidemic multiplies itself several times over,
because these people are also sleeping with
others as well. As a result of Jimmy's actions,
there are 15 people who might be infected with
HIV, some of whom may not even know their
status. When you consider someone like Magic
Johnson, who admittedly slept with scores of
women, the impact is simply mind-boggling. Any
epidemiologist will tell you that the spread of
disease has a huge multiplier effect, where you
can easily be harmed by the choices of people
that you don't even know.
3) The making of the STD epidemic in black
America is quite simple : A disproportionate
number of black men are in prison, uneducated or
unemployed, reducing the supply of men for
women to marry. This leads women themselves
to have more partners over their lifespans,
increasing their risk of infection. Additionally,
many men don't go to the doctor to get regular
STD panels (that means a check for ALL diseases,
not just HIV), especially among those who've been
marginalized in our society. This is compounded
by the fact that many people will do lots of
creative things in the bedroom with people
without having a clue about where their bodies
have been (nearly every hip-hop song on the radio
encourages men to have a slew of women). So,
the fact of the matter is that when you share
yourself without thinking it through, you make
yourself vulnerable to those who are not careful
about their health.
My thoughts on this issue can be summed up with
a personal story. A 32-year old woman in Chicago
sent me an email message, telling me that one of
my articles might have saved her life. I was
curious to hear her story, so I gave her a call. She
told me that up until one month before, she'd
been a virgin, waiting for her husband. When her
husband didn't arrive, mother nature took over (a
woman's drive for "male companionship" tends to
increase between 27 and 45 for various biological
reasons). The woman met a nice man, and slept
with him.
The mistake the woman made was that, in the
heat of passion, she didn't protect herself. She
said that this was when she read my article about
STDs in the black community and asked her new
boyfriend if they could go get tested together. He
agreed to do so and they made plans to go to the
doctor. Unfortunately for the woman, this was the
last time her new "boyfriend" ever returned her
calls. This indicated to me that he was
accustomed to sleeping with women without
protection and not being asked any questions. It's
a dangerous world out here, so we have to be
careful.
Sent from my BlackBerry wireless device from MTN
No comments:
Post a Comment