Ohio sex worker had more than 200 clients while knowing she was HIV-positive: ‘Risky business’

An Ohio sex worker allegedly had contact with more than 200 clients despite knowing she was HIV-positive — and state officials are warning anybody who engaged in “risky business” with her to come forward and get tested.

Linda Leccesse, 30, had contact with at least 211 clients from multiple states in the two years since Jan. 1, 2022, which is around when she took an HIV test and learned she was positive for the potentially deadly virus, authorities said.

Leccesse solicited most of those clients on Market Street in Marietta — a small city in southeast Ohio on the border of West Virginia — but the possibly infected people are believed to be spread across the East Coast.

“This case could stem anywhere from Florida up the East Coast, but there are local individuals that we will be reaching out to,” Washington County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Mark Warden said in a press conference last week, according to the Parkersburg News and Sentinel.

Police have begun calling through known clients of Leccesse to alert them of the situation and also are urging anybody else who may have had contact with her to reach out to authorities.

“They’re not in trouble, this is public health awareness. This is not a scam,” Warden said.

Anybody who may have been with Leccesse is asked to be “brutally honest” with officials, the Marietta/Belpre Health Department said.

“Marietta/Belpre Health Department is a judgment-free zone with full confidentiality,” said Barbara Bradley, health department administrator, adding that relatives of Leccesse’s clients and anybody who had sexual contact with them are also vulnerable to the “risky business.”

Leccesse was arrested May 13 for soliciting sex on Market Street, after which police learned she was HIV-positive and had known for more than two years.

The next day, she was indicted for engaging in solicitation after a positive HIV test, a third-degree felony.