A man accused of being an AIDS "predator'' yesterday denied accusations that he was concealing his disease from sex partners.

His denial follows reports in yesterday's Royal Gazette about the concerns of a mother terrified that her 20-year-old daughter -- and two of her friends, an 18-year-old and a 22-year-old mother-of-two -- were having sex with an HIV-positive "animal''.

The mother charged the man -- who served a prison term for having sex with an underage girl -- was picking up young, vulnerable girls and not telling them about the disease.

Under sexual offence legislation, any HIV-positive person who has sex without telling their partner about the virus can face up to 30 years imprisonment.

But yesterday two of the three girls involved denied having sex with the man and told The Royal Gazette that friendship -- not sex -- was at the heart of the issue.

"We're all just good friends -- we hang out, we have a good time, and sex isn't an issue,'' said the 20-year-old.

"We know he has the virus, but I'm not going to contract it from being in the same room as him or touching his hand or anything like that. It's either sexually transmitted or contracted through needles.

"And I know that if I were to sleep with him it's a possibility that I would catch the disease -- I might not be able to have children or have a husband,'' she added.

The 22-year-old Bailey's Bay resident also flatly denied any sexual involvement with the man -- and said people treated the man like an outcast because of his disease.

"It ruins everything -- you know Bermudians -- once you're like that (HIV positive) they're going to diss you.'' "I go out with him and everything -- but I don't have to have sex with him to be his friend.

"He does everything the same as everyone else -- he bleeds the same, he eats the same way.

"We don't treat him like an outsider because he's like that (HIV positive) -- he's still human, he still has feelings.

"But since I've known him, I haven't stopped hearing about him -- people are always telling me (that he is HIV-positive).

"People talk about him behind his back and that pushes me toward him more to be his friend.

"And when it comes to be his turn to die, I want to be right there by his side so he knows that we were truly friends -- because everyone in life needs a friend,'' she added.

The man spoke with The Royal Gazette and said he did not know he was HIV-positive until he had done a stint in prison and took a blood test.

But he claims he is not sure if he believes the test -- and does not necessarily want to find out for certain if he is HIV positive.

He admitted that he had slept with the 18-year-old girl -- but claims he told her beforehand that he may be HIV-positive.

The man also claimed his criminal record and his possible HIV-positive status was being used against him -- especially by the 20-year-old's mother.

"I've got a record -- I'm not going to lie about that -- and once her mother found out about my record, everything was different,'' he said.

Allan Vincent Smith Foundation director Michael Fox stressed that HIV infection is "entirely preventable''.

Friends rush to defend AIDS `predator' "The (Allan Vincent Smith) Foundation abhors such actions of the alleged HIV-positive individual and throughout our nearly six years of operation, have been educating the public about safer sex practices,'' he said.

He said the mother had contacted the Foundation's AIDS help line, but said there was little that could be done unless there was someone willing to press charges.

"While we understand (the mother's) frustration, there was nothing we could do to assist her or her daughter...the Police cannot proceed further without the cooperation of the complainant,'' he added.

"We urge everyone in the community to better educate themselves about HIV and AIDS.'' HEALTH HTH CRIME CRM