Ohio sex worker had more than 200 clients while knowing she was HIV-positive

usa news

by alex oliveira

An Ohio sex worker allegedly had contact with more than 200 clients knowing she was HIV-positive, and state authorities are now asking anyone who engaged in “dangerous business” with her to come forward. He warns them to get tested.

Linda Lesses, 30, came into contact with at least 211 customers from multiple states over a two-year period starting Jan. 1, 2022, authorities said. Around this time, she underwent an HIV test and found out she tested positive for the potentially deadly virus.

Mr. Lesse recruited most of these clients on Market Street in Marietta, a small city in southeastern Ohio on the border with West Virginia, but potentially infected people are spread across the East Coast. It is believed that.

“This incident could have happened anywhere from Florida to the East Coast, but there are some local people we’re in contact with,” Washington County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy said at a news conference last week, according to the newspaper. ” he said. Parkersburg News and Sentinel.

Police have begun making calls through known clients of Resse alerting them to the situation, and are also urging anyone else who may have come into contact with her to contact authorities.

“They’re not in trouble. This is public health awareness. This is not a scam,” Worden said.

The Marietta-Belpre Health Department said anyone who may have been at Lesse is asked to be “brutal honest” with authorities.

“The Marietta/Belpre Health Department is a judgment-free zone with complete confidentiality,” said Department of Health Administrator Barbara Bradley, adding that relatives of Lessese clients and anyone who had sexual contact with them are also “ It added that they were more likely to be exposed to “risky business.”

Resse was arrested May 13 on charges of soliciting sex on Market Street, but police later learned she was HIV positive and had known her for more than two years.

The next day, she was charged with a third-degree felony for engaging in solicitation after a positive HIV test.