Prostitute jailed for soliciting with HIV

DAYTON, Ohio, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- An Ohio prostitute was sentenced to four years in prison Thursday for continuing to ply her trade in spite of being infected with the virus linked to AIDS.

Vickie West asked the judge who sentenced her to allow her to move to Arkansas where she has relatives, the Dayton Daily News reported.

"I'm not unsympathetic to your plight," said Common Pleas Judge Mary Lou Huffman. "My greater concern is the danger to the public."

West was arrested in March after she solicited an undercover police officer in Dayton. A jury found her guilty of two felonies, both involving prostitution by someone who has tested positive for the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV.

West has a long criminal history, including five arrests and three prison terms for selling sex while HIV positive, the report said. She was featured in 1993 Daily News story on HIV-positive prostitutes that inspired the law she is being punished for breaking.