Man Faces 95 Years In Prison For Infecting 15-Year-Old With HIV

A Texas man is facing 95 years in prison after repeatedly having unprotected sex with a 15-year-old virgin and knowingly infecting her with HIV, police said.

Matthew Louis Reese, 31, pleaded guilty in Dallas County court to assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated sexual assault with serious bodily injury and sexual assault of a child.

During a seven-month relationship with the teen from 2012 to 2013, Reese repeatedly had sex with the girl without telling her he has HIV. He was diagnosed in 2006, the Dallas Morning News reports.

The girl, now 17, testified that she met Reese when she called a chat line in December 2012. She told the court Tuesday that she did not know how to kiss and had never had a boyfriend when she met him.

The victim says she told Reese that she was 17, but later that same night she admitted she was 15.

When her parents discovered her on the phone with Reese, he told her mother that he was 18 and they let him continue to have contact with her.

The girl said Reese told her if she refused to have sex with him “it will make a man want to cheat.” When she told him that she had never had sex, he allegedly said that’s why she’s never had a boyfriend.

When Reese went to jail on a drug charge, the two exchanged letters while he was locked up. During this time she did not know she had HIV.

Dallas Detective Carol Steward testified that Reese appeared to be grooming the girl, showering her with compliments and telling her he wanted to move in with her and get her pregnant once he was released. He also asked her to send him naked photos and money.

When the teen became sick, she was hospitalized and lapsed into a coma for two weeks before she was diagnosed with HIV.

When she told Reese of her symptoms during a phone call, he insisted he was “clean.”

“It’s a control issue,” Steward testified. “He’s trying to keep her under [his] control.”

Her mother, who was not named to protect the victim’s identity, testified Tuesday that she always thought Reese looked older than 18.

The victim is currently taking medication and her health is “okay.” She told the court she “strongly dislikes” Reese.

“There was a point,” she said, “where I wished death on him.”