Georgia Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Failing to Disclose HIV Status, Leading to Wife's Death
Cleveland Broadie pleaded guilty to reckless conduct after infecting multiple women, including his wife, who died from AIDS.
A Georgia man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to three counts of reckless conduct for knowingly having unprotected sex with multiple women without disclosing his HIV-positive status. Cleveland Broadie, 64, accepted a plea deal in the Superior Court of Rockdale County, avoiding a murder trial.
Prosecutors stated that Broadie had stopped taking his HIV medication in 2009, rendering him infectious. Court documents indicate he engaged in unprotected sexual intercourse with five women between 2009 and 2023. Medical providers testified that Broadie was infectious during this period and that his HIV diagnosis was not disclosed in conversations with them.
One of the women Broadie had unprotected sex with was his wife, Denise. The couple met in 2012 and married in 2014. Denise became ill in 2016 and died in 2022 after testing positive for HIV, which had progressed to AIDS. According to prosecutors, by the time of her diagnosis, she was considered too far advanced for treatment.
Doctors testified that they would have altered their treatment course for Denise had they known about her exposure to HIV, according to court documents. Denise had also been diagnosed with stage four breast cancer and was admitted to the hospital with a variety of ailments before her death.
Broadie's defense attorneys argued that Denise died from respiratory failure after contracting COVID-19 while battling breast cancer, with HIV being a complication rather than the official cause of death. However, prosecutors asserted that HIV progressed to AIDS and contributed to her death.
During the sentencing hearing, an impact statement was read from one of the victims, who described the lasting psychological effects and trust issues she experienced. Denise Broadie's daughter also read a statement, highlighting the "unimaginable emotional burden" placed on her family by the knowledge that her mother might have been saved with proper medical treatment.
Broadie is eligible for early release after serving eight years of his sentence. Should he be released, he will be prohibited from contacting the victims' families, must continue taking his medication, and will be required to share his medical records with his probation officer.
