A woman from Hamilton, Ont., has been charged after accusations that she had unprotected sex without revealing her HIV-positive status — and police say they fear more than one partner could be involved.

Police took the rare step of releasing this photo of Robin Lee St. Clair, 26, of Hamilton, Ont., to alert any past sexual partners of the HIV risk.
(Toronto Police Service)

Toronto police told a news conference Thursday that Robin Lee St. Clair, 26, was arrested Sunday and currently faces one charge of sexual assault.

Det. Joseph De Lottinville called St. Clair "a huge threat" to public safety, amid police fears that she deliberately slept with a number of people without revealing that she had HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Police allege that St. Clair has known of her HIV status since March 2003, but didn't follow the legal requirement that people with HIV disclose the condition to sexual partners.

Officers said St. Clair is believed to have frequented several bars in the Greater Toronto Area, specifically in Hamilton, Brantford and Toronto, particularly in its downtown Entertainment District.

More than 10 men who allegedly had sexual contact with her are being interviewed by police.

Investigators took the unusual step of releasing St, Clair's photo to the public Thursday, saying they hoped anyone who had sexual contact with St. Clair would see the photo and seek medical advice.

First case of this kind in Toronto

An officer told CBC News it was the first time they could remember an alleged incident of this type in Toronto.

Similar allegations about another woman surfaced north of Toronto in Barrie several years ago. In that case, the woman was convicted for failing to reveal her HIV-positive status before having sex with a soldier from Canadian Forces Base Borden.

She was handed three years probation and a year of house arrest. The man did not test positive for HIV.

In a high-profile case in late February, former Saskatchewan Roughrider Trevis Smith was sentenced to six years in jail for aggravated sexual assault for knowingly exposing two women to HIV by having unprotected sex with them without disclosing he was HIV positive.

Neither woman has tested positive for HIV.