Cedar Rapids man accused of sexually abusing 13-year-old girl, infecting her with HIV

CEDAR RAPIDS - A 33-year-old Cedar Rapids man is accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl for two years and giving her HIV.

Lamont James was arrested Tuesday and faces two counts of third-degree sexual abuse and two counts of transmission of a contagious or infectious disease.

The girl - who is now 16 - told police in June she had been in a sexual relationship with James that started when she was 13, according to a July 9 search warrant affidavit from Cedar Rapids police Investigator Bryson Garringer.

The affidavit states James is HIV positive and the girl 'believes that Lamont James in the one who infected her.”

The girl said James never told her about his HIV status, according to the affidavit.

Moreover, Garringer said the girl's report was not the first police had received about James.

According to the affidavit, a woman filed a report with Cedar Rapids police in November 2018, stating she believed she had contracted HIV from James. She said she had been involved with James between August and October.

HIV - human immunodeficiency virus - over time can lead to AIDS, a life-threatening condition that damages the immune system.

In the affidavit, Garringer requested access to 'any and all medical records” that Linn County Public Health has relating to James' HIV status.

A warrant was issued for James' arrest in September.

The criminal complaint states James 'knowing that he is infected with a contagious or infectious disease, specifically HIV, exposed … an uninfected person to HIV acting with reckless disregard as to whether (that person) contracted HIV, and that conduct resulted in (that person) becoming infected with HIV.”

James made an initial appearance in Linn County District Court on Tuesday, where a judge appointed a public defender and set his bond at $50,000. He is in the Linn County Jail.

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