A man who secretly infected his wife with HIV so she would be willing to have sex with him faces a possible 14-year sentence.

The 35-year-old man, an immigrant resident of New Zealand, tested positive for HIV in 2004 when he arrived in the country, though his 33-year-old wife and child were uninfected.

His wife subsequently agreed to stay with him to preserve the family, and initially consented to having protected sex with him. Later she would refuse him sex out of fear of being infected:

“I just wanted to maintain the relationship for the sake of the children. He insisted on staying and he mentioned that he was not worried about sex any more. All he wanted (was) to see the children grow with both parents under one roof.”

However, her husband was apparently so desperate for sex that he concocted a scheme where he would secretly infect her with his own blood whilst she slept so that she would once again willing to sleep with him, and be unable to leave him.

Noticing only a mark on her leg, it was four months before she learnt she was infected, thanks to the results of a medical check-up:

“All he said [was] he was sorry. He said, ‘I used needles on you because I wanted you to be the same as me so that you can live with me and you won’t leave me’.”

Police soon suspected her infection came from the husband as she had repeatedly tested negative for the disease during a year-long abstinence from sex.

The man, who admits the offence, faces up to 14-years in prison on charges of willfully infecting another with a disease.