ROCKDALE COUNTY, Ga. — A Georgia man has been sentenced for crimes related to infecting his wife and two other women with the human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) without telling them he had the disease.
Prosecutors say that his wife died from complications related to HIV.
Prosecutors dropped the malice murder and felony murder charges, and Cleveland J. Broadie pleaded guilty to reckless conduct charges, according to Rockdale County court records.
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A warrant for Broadie’s arrest was issued in 2023 regarding the death of his wife Denise in 2022.
Court records show that Broadie was accused of reckless conduct as an HIV-infected person for repeatedly having sexual intercourse with his wife without informing her of his diagnosis.
The warrant said he’d been diagnosed and was medicated for the disease as early as 2006. In 2022, Denise Broadie was diagnosed with HIV and days later, she died.
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Additional reckless conduct charges were filed for his sexual activities with two other victims following his wife’s death. Prosecutors say he did not inform either of his HIV diagnosis.
An indictment from Rockdale County showed that a grand jury found Broadie had caused the death of his wife with malice by infecting her with HIV through unprotected sex and without informing her of his disease, as a result of the reckless conduct he was charged with for sex without protection.
Broadie was accused of intentionally trying to infect the other women he engaged in sexual activity with, though the court record did not indicate if those efforts were successful.
In court, transcripts show the prosecution presented evidence that Broadie had knowingly infected a woman in 2009 with HIV, an action the prosecution said he admitted to, saying he and the woman had “decided to stay together because they both had HIV.”
Prosecutors also said Broadie continued having unprotected sex in the home he lived in with his wife while she was hospitalized and dying, according to court transcripts.
The prosecutors mentioned multiple additional victims he had sex with, none of whom he disclosed his HIV status to.
On Oct. 7, Broadie attended a plea hearing.
During the plea hearing, the prosecution said that at no time did Broadie inform the various medical facilities treating his wife for severe ailments that he was HIV-positive.
“They had no idea she had ever been exposed to it, that her husband had a current diagnosis for it,” the prosecution said. “Medical providers at both facilities had conversations with this defendant and it never came up.”
Eventually, Denise Broadie was tested for HIV on March 28, 2022, testing positive.
The prosecution said it was too late to save her.
“At that point, she was too far gone, your Honor,” the prosecution said, according to court transcripts. “And she, ultimately, succumbed to death as a result of full blown AIDS on April 2, 2022.”
Broadie entered a negotiated plea of guilty to the three reckless conduct charges, and in exchange the prosecution agreed to nolle prosequi the murder charges for the death of his wife, Denise.
He was sentenced to 15 years in prison with eight to be served in confinement. Broadie received credit for time served while in custody and will be eligible to serve on probation at the end of the eight years.
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