‘Ladies Man’ Sentenced to 45 Years in HIV Assault Case After Berating Accusers
A Texas jury has sentenced a martial arts instructor to 45 years in prison for infecting six women with the HIV virus while having unprotected sex with them.
Juror Kim Puckett said the sentence for Philippe Padieu was a compromise because some on the panel wanted him to go to prison for a longer term, the Dallas Morning News reports. Padieu was convicted of six counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for having sex with six women without warning of his HIV status. He was sentenced to five terms of 45 years in prison, and one for 25 years, all to run concurrently.
Defense lawyers had described Padieu as a “ladies man.” But in closing arguments, prosecutors had said Padieu gave the impression he was a “catch” for middle-aged women he bedded, while in reality he was a predator. “You’ve got a guy who’s got all his hair,” said Assistant District Attorney Curtis Howard. “He doesn’t have a big belly. He’s in shape. He drives a nice car, a Corvette. He’s French. He treats women well.”
Padieu had testified in the sentencing phase of his trial against the advice of his lawyers, the McKinney Courier-Gazette reports. “He constantly ranted in his responses and talked back to all the lawyers, including his own,” the story says. Padieu testified that one of his acusers had infected him, and some of the victims had tried to have him killed. “These women are in very dark, sinister places,” he said.
Some jurors said Padieu didn’t hurt his cause by testifying, while others said he both helped and hurt his case, the Courier-Gazette reports in a separate story.
Padieu’s attorney, Bennie House, told the Dallas Morning News that the sentence was “better than life.”
House said Padieu was prosecuted for aggravated assault because the state does not have an “HIV law” that specifically bars the intentional spreading of the disease that causes AIDS. House told the Morning News that the assault prosecution “absolutely opens the door for any STD prosecution,” or even for diseases such as swine flu.
