Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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The Associated Press - Friday, Oct. 15, 1999
Rachel Zoll, Associated Press Writer
Martin Jones, 37, faced up to 60 years after pleading guilty to nine counts of criminal exposure to AIDS and three counts of statutory rape involving one of the women.
One of the women was 17 when she began an affair with Jones. She later had his baby and is now HIV positive. The other two women have tested negative.
Jones had pleaded guilty on the second day of his trial in July. Officials in Jackson County, Mich., brought and then dismissed AIDS exposure charges against Jones in 1994 involving two women there. Jones is from Michigan.
Jones sobbed throughout Friday's hearing as his attorneys tried to calm him.
"I just wanted to be loved, your honor," he told Knox County Criminal Court Judge Ray Jenkins.
"I didn't want to be rejected. All my life, I've been rejected." But Jenkins said the punishment should be strong, considering the number of victims, the degree of personal injury and the length of time over which the crimes happened.
"He knew he had the virus, then he moved South to inflict this disease or expose this disease to three victims," Jenkins said.
Jones apparently contracted AIDS through heterosexual sex. He was first diagnosed in 1991.
Prosecutors have said one of Jones' victims didn't learn that he was infected until a detective showed up to arrest him on charges of having sex with the teen-ager. Another victim found out by reading about Jones in the newspaper.
Prosecutors said they were pleased with the sentence, while Jones' attorneys called it excessive. Jones will be eligible for parole after serving 30 percent of the sentence.
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