Man who hid his HIV-positive status from lovers deported to SVG

A man whom Canadian authorities jailed and deported after he knowingly passed on HIV to lovers is now back in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).
Steve Alphonso Ralph arrived in SVG on Thursday February 7, 2019.
The 41-year-old, who will be 42 on Valentine’s Day, is originally from the East St. George area and goes by the alias “Shorty”.
According to an article published on Monday March 10, 2014 in the Toronto Sun, Ralph concealed his HIV-positive status from four sex partners and was found guilty of several crimes, including forcibly confining and assaulting his last victim.
The article noted that Justice Nancy Spies found Ralph, 37 at the time, guilty of committing aggravated sexual assault by endangering the life of his last victim, between November 1, 2010 and New Year’s Day 2011 when he assaulted and held her captive for a few hours at his north Toronto home.
The article said the woman tricked Ralph into letting her leave the apartment for a cigarette break after she had secretly used her cellular phone to alert police.
“She escaped and officers tracked the victim through her cell,” the article stated.
During his hearing, Ralph testified that he merely slapped his last victim, but Crown attorney Patricia Garcia said the witness testified she was choked and suffered a more severe beating than Ralph described.
The Sun reported, “When police arrested Ralph, a small-time pot dealer who lives on government assistance or disability, he admitted his HIV-positive status. When officers broke the grim news to the woman, she was so upset she became violently ill. Her worst fears were confirmed when she tested positive for HIV…
“Besides the last victim, Ralph was also guilty of aggravated sexual assault against another woman between March 1, 2008 and August 5, 2010. This victim, like Ralph’s last victim, also tested positive for HIV.”
In court, Ralph denied hiding he was HIV positive, and claimed the two women consented to having unprotected sex with him while knowing of his condition. His version was rejected.
The Vincentian national also pleaded guilty to endangering two other women’s lives in 2009 and from January 1, 2003 to January 1, 2005. He admitted he had sex without revealing his condition to them. They tested negative for HIV.
Reports are that Ralph knew of his HIV status since May 2003 and despite repeated warnings by public health officials to disclose his condition to sex partners, he did not.
The SUN said when Ralph was arrested in January 2011, police issued a public alert and Toronto public health authorities found two other victims.
Ralph was sentenced to over five years in prison in 2014.