AIKEN – A former Aiken County art teacher has been sentenced for knowingly exposing his wife to HIV.
An Aiken County jury Wednesday found Joel Lynn Bedenbaugh, 47, of Camden, S.C., guilty of exposing others to HIV, said Assistant Aiken County Solicitor Brenda Brisbin. He was sentenced to six years in prison and four years of probation after a two-day trial.
Mr. Bedenbaugh knowingly exposed his now ex-wife to the sexually transmitted disease during their marriage between 2002 and 2006, Ms. Brisbin said.
Prosecutors discovered his diagnosis while investigating allegations of criminal sexual conduct with a minor in 2008. Mr. Bedenbaugh had been accused of having sexual contact with a girl between 2003 and 2005, starting when the child was six-years-old, Ms. Brisbin said. The charges were dropped since he is serving time for the current offense, and will register as a sex offender, Ms. Brisbin said.
Neither the wife nor the child contracted HIV.
Mr. Bedenbaugh taught art part-time at St. Mary Help of Christians Catholic School in Aiken and at Warren Road Elementary, according to Augusta Chronicle archives.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
what a sicko!!!!
Which charges were dropped?
Creepo. Hope he dies in jail before his sentence is done...
Dixie: tax dollars will be paying for his treatment. He will end up as healthy as Magic Johnson.
Sounds like they dropped charges concerning sex with a 6 yr. old !!! That's par for S.C. courts; for marijuana they want to bury you and for pedophilia they slap you on the hand. Once again, unbelievable
Damn.
animal
and just why are so many against homeschooling again?????.......
This is why we have vigilantes.
A fat lighter stump, a rusty 10 penny nail, a dull rusty pocket knife and a kitchen match. Those items, while seeming innocent, could cure these types of ills!!
"charges were dropped since he is serving time for the current offense" Wow! How on earth can a justification be made to drop previous charges because a criminal is already in jail?!? That is an outrage! It is unbelieveable! Is there any doubt about the judicial system in America? A minority citizen has NEVER heard of such favorable treatment in such serious cases. This decision puts other youngters at risk - and why? What was the judge thinking? Again, Wow! This verifies what "we" already knew...what a complete disgrace.
He should not be allowed to get any drugs for his sickness!!!! Thank God the wife and the child was not infected.
Where is APEX aka JEFFE STONNER? I see he already posted as JUSTUS.Also where is Whipping Post, Lola Jean, Jack and Irish? I guess this suspect has something in common with them?
ColdBeerBoiledPeanuts has the best logic for today! I agree...c'mon we aren't talking about a teenager. but..a six-year old, OMG!
Hey Justus took longer to hit the minority button today, what's going on?
Good grief.
The six year old was probably a relative. Who wants to put a little kid through a trial? I would want it that way too.
well what can I say..............
Justus4....You are so paranoid and delusional. While I do agree with you (I know, it shocks me too!) that it is outrageous to drop the charges relating to the child, I can't see how the decision had anything to do with race. Stupidity on the part of the prosecutors? Absolutely! But not race. I vote that we drop ALL charges against this psycho, let him out of jail, and turn him over to the family of the child he is suspected of molesting. Now THAT is justice!
Maybe the exwife wanted it that way. I think she did. I just hope that he dies in prison. What purpose is served by forcing a child to testify to molestation when he can be prosecuted for something else?
The child who was molested, will be a woman, with a terrible memory from this man. She will never be the same. When she is old, this will still be a part of her memory, and her image of herself. What message are we sending her, when we do not prosecute?
Again, I think it was the exwife- who is probably the mother- that wanted it that way. Nobody ever wants a child to testify to molestation. It's like being raped all over again. Adults can't handle it and it's worse for kids. It's very traumatic for them, especially when they have to testify against their parent. I would make the same choice, too.