Rick Webster, who contracted the disease from his birth mother, once preached abstinence
In a 2006 photo, Rick Webster, then 16, of Tewksbury, talks about having HIV. When he was 14, Rick "Ricky" Webster and his parents were on a CNN program in which his father said he’d had conversations with his son about how it isn’t safe to have sex with someone else who has HIV.
But Webster, 21, who contracted HIV from his birth mother, was sentenced today to four years in prison for not telling two females, one a 15-year-old girl, with whom he had sex that he had the disease.
During his court appearance, Webster, of Hunterdon County, expressed remorse for his actions. He said he believed everyone within his circle of friends knew of his condition, but he now realizes he should not have made that assumption, said Thomas Rosenthal, a spokesman for the Office of the Public Defender.
Webster appeared before Superior Court Judge Stephen Rubin in Flemington, who imposed the four-year term, said Assistant Prosecutor Brian Shevlin.
The victims were satisfied with the resolution, the prosecutor said after court.
Charges of assault and child endangerment were dismissed, Shevlin said. A conviction for a second-degree offense could have meant up to 10 years in state prison.
Webster, raised in Tewksbury, had originally been charged with second-degree sexual assault, third-degree endangering a welfare of a child, and third-degree diseased person committing an act of sexual penetration for his encounter with a 15-year-old girl in August 2009, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.
He was also charged with the disease-related offense for having sex with a woman in May 2009 without disclosing his condition.
As part of the deal struck between Shevlin and public defender Herminia Moreira, Webster pleaded guilty in August to the disease-related offense.
As a teenager, Webster was featured in stories by several media outlets as someone who was living with HIV.
In 2006, he was interviewed as part of a series in marking the 25th anniversary of the discovery of AIDS. He talked about The Star-Ledger having contracted the disease from his birth mother and said he always had the support of his peers. He was adopted as an infant.
The plea deal also took care of an outstanding burglary charge, Shevlin said.
Webster was kicked out of the pretrial intervention program after the most recent charges were lodged against him. Instead of going to trial for the 2007 burglary, he pleaded guilty to third-degree conspiracy to commit burglary in August.
New Jersey Local News Service reporter Veronica Slaght contributed to this report.