HIV positive child abuser jailed for breaching order

An HIV positive man has been jailed for starting a relationship without telling his new partner he was infected.

James Defalco, 57, of Seaway Court, Brixham and formerly of Whitstone, near Exeter, admitted two breaches of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order.

Defalco was jailed for two years and eight months by Judge Paul Cook at Exeter Crown Court.

The order requires him to tell partners about his HIV status and about a previous conviction for child abuse.

The court heard how Defalco had met a 62-year-old great-grandmother in Brixham, south Devon, through a dating website with whom he had a short physical relationship that fell short of intercourse.

The other breach of the order involved the victim's two-year-old granddaughter, who he dangled on his lap and bounced on his knee during a family wedding.

The order requires him not to have any contact with a child under 16 without informing their parents, the police and social services about his previous offending.

Miss Mary McCarthy, prosecuting, said Defalco had a history of violence, dishonesty and sexual offending and was made subject to the order in 2005 when he was jailed for inflicting grievous bodily harm on an 82-year-old woman by infecting her with HIV.

Formerly known as Derek Hornett he has previously been jailed three times for breaking the order and once for abusing children.

Kevin Hopper, defending, said Defalco believed treatment for his HIV status meant that his "viral load" - the amount of HIV in his blood, was now so low that he did not believe he posed any risk of infection, but accepted he must be jailed.

The judge said: "You have persistently breached this order, which was imposed to protect the public. The public are entitled to be protected."

The order about his HIV status and contact with children remains in place.