Keeping a promiscuous HIV-positive man isolated from the community has cost taxpayers $355,000 in less than two years, but health authorities see no alternative.
Former Christchurch male prostitute Christopher Paul Truscott, aged 33, has absconded from care four times since he was ordered in May last year to be detained in
isolation under section 79 of the Health Act.
In Christchurch District Court this week, Truscott was convicted and discharged for his latest breach of the enforced isolation order in October, when he was on the run for less than 24 hours.
Judge Graeme Noble told Truscott that it would be futile fining him for escaping because any such penalty would effectively be a further burden on the taxpayer.
Intellectually impaired, Truscott has boasted of having had sex with thousands of men. He admitted in court last year having unprotected sex with four men without telling them he was HIV-positive.
After his second escape from isolation early this year, Truscott was found at a well-known gay haunt in Hagley Park in Christchurch central and admitted to police that he had had oral sex with two men.
Truscott's regular wanderings have sparked fear in the community and calls for him to be jailed.
The costs of keeping him in isolation, estimated at $165,000 last year, have been compared with the $75,000 annual cost of keeping an inmate in a maximum-security prison.
But health authorities say he cannot be held in jail because he needs rehabilitative care and his medical treatment must be regularly monitored.
Canterbury medical officer of health Mel Brieseman said an internal review after Truscott's October escape found that "human error" was a factor.
No particular individual had been singled out, but Dr Brieseman refused to detail how the security breach occurred.
He said the review found that increasing security at the residence where Truscott is being kept isolated was not warranted.
The name of Truscott's caregiver is suppressed by court order.
Dr Brieseman said health authorities had devised an "occupational programme" for Truscott after he complained of being "sick and tired of being locked away, with no walks or rides," in a letter to the Press newspaper about his escape last February.
"He is becoming frustrated with the seclusion and we're dealing with that," Dr Brieseman said.
He was "satisfied" with current security arrangements and said he believed "all that needs to be done which is practical is being done."
Dr Brieseman said the general public had no need to fear Truscott.
"The major thing as far as the danger to the public is concerned is not so much him, but the public ... Anyone who indulges in unprotected sex is risking their lives. The danger is not from [Truscott]."
The safe sex message is echoed by Peter Burton, spokesman for the Health Funding Authority, which is responsible for the contract to care for Truscott.
"The public are not in danger," Mr Burton said. "The only people in danger are those who choose to have unprotected sex with unknown partners."
- NZPA
Keeping a promiscuous HIV-positive man isolated from the community has cost taxpayers $355,000 in less than two years, but health authorities see no alternative.
Former Christchurch male prostitute Christopher Paul Truscott, aged 33, has absconded from care four times since he was ordered in May last year to be detained in
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