This is a personal plea to everyone. Be careful and protect yourselves. AIDS/HIV are REAL !!!!!
ABERDEEN, South Dakota (CNN) -- Two South Dakota men have been charged with intentionally infecting men and women with the HIV virus through sexual contact, and authorities are trying to determine how many people may have been unknowingly infected, officials said Wednesday.
William Kenneth Jenigen, 35, turned himself in Wednesday after an arrest warrant was issued for him. He has been charged with six counts of intentional exposure to HIV infection, said Brown County State's Attorney Mark McNeary.
His roommate, Jay Lee Woods, 41, was arrested a day earlier and charged with four counts of intentional HIV exposure.
Each count carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $15,000 fine. The men are in the Brown County Jail, each on a $25,000 cash bond.
So far, authorities have identified as many as 20 men and women who may have had contact with Jenigen and Woods and may be infected, but McNeary said he fears far more people could be at risk.
"The information we're receiving is that both knew that they were HIV positive and both were having contact with these people and had not indicated to them that they were HIV positive," McNeary said.
So far a motive is unclear, he said. "I don't know if we'll ever know, to be honest with you."
McNeary admitted he was stunned such a case could happen in Brown County, which surrounds Aberdeen and has a population of 35,000.
"Right now, law enforcement is kind of in a state of shock that something like this could happen in a community like ours," McNeary said. "We're kind of rural."
He said police were not seeking any other suspects.
Little is known about Jenigen and Woods except that they arrived in Aberdeen from California a little more than a year ago, McNeary said. The men knew each other before arriving in Aberdeen, but it is not clear why they chose to move to the South Dakota city.
A priority now is to warn potential victims they may be at risk of HIV infection, which leads to AIDS, said Brown County Sheriff Mark Milbrandt.
"That's what we're investigating right now, trying to find out whether there are any other victims out there," he said.
The case of Woods and Jenigen is not related to a case last week in Huron, South Dakota, about 100 miles to the south, in which a man was charged with infecting others through sexual contact without telling them he is HIV positive, McNeary said.
McNeary's office issued a statement urging possible victims to contact their physician or the Brown County Community Health Office (605-626-2649).
"There could be a fair number of individuals in our community that have had some type of contact with these defendants," he said.