By Rick Armon, The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio
Jan. 12–CANTON — Leah Marie Blackburn first got busted for prostitution in Stark County more than four years ago.
Then she got picked up again. And again.
Along the way, the 35-year-old woman learned she was HIV positive. But that — along with stints in jail — didn’t stop her from trying to sell her body for sex.
Blackburn, 5-foot-7 and 231 pounds, was arrested in February 2005 and sentenced to six months in state prison on a more severe felony charge of loitering to engage in solicitation after a positive HIV test. Shortly after being released last year, she was arrested again on the same charge.
On Wednesday, Common Pleas Judge John G. Haas sentenced her to nine months in prison.
Blackburn, whose last known address was in Massillon, offered no comment in court. Neither did Haas — other than noting her lengthy rap sheet.
In both felony cases, police said Blackburn was stopping vehicles in Canton in an attempt to drum up business. Instead, she was picked up by police.
Stark County authorities said it’s uncommon for local prostitutes to test positive for HIV, the virus that can lead to AIDS.
“It is not prevalent but it’s getting worse,” said Canton police Sgt. Victor George, a member of the vice squad. “As time goes on, we’re finding more and more people in prostitution have hepatitis and HIV.”
Last summer, the city experienced a syphilis outbreak among area prostitutes and their customers.
“That was a major issue and continues to be a concern for us,” said Robert E. Pattison, city health commissioner.
Each time someone is arrested, he or she is tested for disease. The Health Department also does outreach with prostitutes to try to test and treat them for illness, Pattison said. But he and George said the prostitutes don’t stop even after testing positive for disease.
“Typically you see them back on the street,” George said. “There’s no real deterrent for stopping them. It’s really a revolving door.”
Pattison estimated that there are about 300 people with HIV living in the county, and another 200 have AIDS.
“We would caution anybody about having sex with people that they don’t know the status of,” he said.
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or [email protected]
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Copyright (c) 2006, The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio
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