HOUSTON – A suspected child predator in Houston is at the center of a case that could make history here.
Kevin Sellars, 49, is accused of using MySpace to lure a 15-year-old Indiana boy to Houston last December. Investigators say he sexually assaulted the teen for more than a week.
"He was not exactly a willing participant in the sexual acts," said Eric Devlin of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
Sellars didn’t tell the teen that he is HIV-positive until it was too late, according to prosecutors.
"It was, ‘I have HIV. You probably do, too. Have a nice life,'" Devlin said.
Prosecutors want to send Sellars to prison for life, so they’ve charged him with using a deadly weapon – his body.
"It’s extremely rare," said crime victims advocate Andy Kahan.
Kahan played a role in a similar groundbreaking case in the Dallas.
A jury convicted Philippe Padieu for knowingly infecting six women with HIV and sentenced him to 45 years in prison.
Prosecutors portrayed Padieu as a serial killer.
"The only difference is the victims get a slow death," Kahan said.
The Harris County DA’s office doesn’t know yet whether the teen was infected with HIV, but they know Sellars wasn’t making an empty threat.
"We did find a positive HIV test for the defendant," Devlin said.
Sellars remains in jail. His attorney didn’t return our calls.
