A janitor accused of sticking his herpes- and hepatitis-infected penis into water bottles at a medical office where he worked pleaded guilty this week to a single count of aggravated assault with deadly weapon and was sentenced to six years in prison.
Lucio Catarino Diaz will be eligible for parole after three years, prosecutors said, according to KTRK.
The victim, who works at the Houston doctor’s office in Houston, first noticed something was wrong in August when she got water from the office water dispenser and noticed it tasted odd, as CrimeOnline reported. She threw out that bottle and started bringing her own bottle to work. She would fill that bottle in the morning, drink it, and leave it on her desk for the next day — but that bottle eventually smelled odd as well.
In late September, a co-worker who offered to fill the victim’s bottle with coffee reportedly opened the lid and asked the victim why the water inside was yellow. A doctor at the office reportedly performed a urinalysis test and confirmed that the liquid in the bottle was urine.
The office was not equipped with security cameras, so the victim purchased a hidden camera which she mounted under her desk. On September 30, the woman received video footage to her phone which allegedly showed Diaz putting his genitals in her bottle, recapping it, and putting it back on her desk.
Further footage showed him doing it at least twice more. Cops went to the doctor’s office — where Diaz reportedly confessed to tampering with the water bottles.
Ultimately, more people accused Diaz of similar actions, but he was only charged in the case in which the victim recorded him. Several of victims reportedly contracted herpes simplex 1 and hepatitis A from the incidents — both of which Diaz had.
Diaz reportedly told investigators he did it with “malicious intent,” KTRK said.
Court documents say Diaz will not have register as a sex offender when he is released. His attorney said he was “remorseful for his actions” and didn’t want to put the victims through a trial.
