Experts doubt if ‘giving’ herpes warrants a charge of ‘aggravated sexual assault’, referring to the recent case of a man from Toronto being charged after he allegedly infected his girlfriend with genital herpes.

According to CBC News, 35-year-old James David Hogg from Toronto was summoned to court after he was taken in to custody for allegedly transmitting HSV-2 to his girlfriend. The main charge against Hogg is that he didn’t let his 28-year-old girlfriend know about his STD status, which falls in line with the charge of ‘aggravated sexual assault’, says Toronto police.

Even though Hogg claims his girlfriend agreed to having sex with him last March, the concealment of information should be a crime serious enough to bring the charge against him, Constable Tony Vella tells CBC News. However, some experts are of the opinion that it might be too severe a charge in relation to the offence.

One of those who believe so is criminal lawyer Patrice Band who objects to the term ‘aggravated’. A member of the Toronto board of Criminal Lawyer’s Association, Mr. Band says the word usually denotes an action that inflicts physical injury of grievous nature, which is not what genital herpes can do to an individual.

The controversy seems to have stirred the nation a bit, with the public health officials refusing to comment on the case. Genital herpes screening can be an effective way to determine if an individual has the virus. That said, it is the moral responsibility of every sexually active individual to let his/her partner know about their sexually transmitted disease status before going ahead with sexual intercourse, one might say.