Ohio Police Say HIV-Positive Sex Worker Had 200 Clients, Issue Warning

The police in Ohio have claimed that a sex worker in the area had contact with more than 200 clients despite knowing she was HIV-positive. They have issued a notice, asking people who engaged in the "risky business" with her to come forward and get tested, a report in New York Post said. The sex worker, Linda Leccesse, had sexual contacts with clients for five months - from January to May, 2022. This is around the same time she took an HIV test and learned she was positive for the deadly virus, the outlet further said.

This is categorised as third degree felony in Ohio. 

The Post report said that Leccesse solicited most of these clients on Market Street in Marietta - a small city in southeast Ohio on the border of West Virginia - but the possibly infected people are believed to be spread across the East Coast.

"This case could stem anywhere from Florida up the East Coast, but there are local individuals that we will be reaching out to," Washington County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Mark Warden said in a press conference last week.

Police have started calling known clients of Leccesse and also urging anyone who may have had contact with her.

Anybody who may have been with Leccesse is asked to be "brutally honest" with officials, the Marietta/Belpre Health Department said.

"Marietta/Belpre Health Department is a judgment free zone with full confidentiality," Health Department administrator Barbara Bradley is quoted as saying by the outlet.

Through investigation, agents say they learned and identified at least 211 individuals who had contact with Leccesse, said Fox News.

There are currently no hearings scheduled for Lecesse.