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In Ocala, the heart of Florida's horse country, equestrian rider Darren Chiacchia is a boldface name.

Chiacchai is an Olympic bronze medalist who gained national attention in 2008 when he was thrown from his horse in an accident that put him in a coma and led to a heated debate about the safety of his sport. He jokes that he is Olcala's second-most-famous resident behind John Travolta.

In late January, however, Chiacchia made headlines of a different sort. He was arrested by the Marion County Sheriff's office after a former sexual partner accused Chiacchia of exposing him to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Chiacchia, who pleaded not guilty in February, faces up to 30 years in prison under a Florida law passed in 1997 that makes it a felony for people with HIV to have sexual intercourse without informing their partners of their condition. His trial is scheduled to begin in June, his lawyer said.

Florida is one of at least 32 states nationwide that have criminal statutes specific to HIV, many of which date to the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980's and 1990's. As the science and treatment of HIV and AIDS have changed considerably in the ensuing decades, fear of infection has subsided. However, the laws remain on the books, and prosecutors continue to enforce them.

In Pennsylvania and Louisiana, people with HIV can be sentenced to as much as 10 years in prison for spitting at or biting another person, even though scientists have long concluded that transmitting the virus through saliva is virtually impossible. In Missouri, people can be sentenced to life in prison if they infect others without their knowledge.

Although many of the laws were created in the wake of highly publicized cases in which people exposed dozens of sexual partners, the statutes make little distinction between such extreme situations and more nuanced recent cases like Ciuacchia's which involved a consensual relationship.

Advocates for people with HIV and AIDS argue that criminal laws cause more harm in that they discourage people from being tested. But those who support the laws say they are necessary to punish people whose reckless behavior puts others at risk.

"Failing to inform somebody can put their life at risk," said Timothy McCourt, the assistant state attorney in Chiacchia's case. "And I think in a real sense, you're playing Russian roulette with another person's life." Chiacchia's lawyer, Baron Coleman, said the law under which Chiacchia is being charged is unfair because criminal acts can be prosecuted under more generic laws. "If you're trying to kill somebody, there are statutes to protect against that," Coleman said.

James Subjack, a former district attorney in upstate New York, disagreed. Subjack was the prosecuter in the case of Nushawn Williams, accused in 1997 of infecting more than a dozen women with HIV. Subjack said the absence of such laws in New York hampered his prosecution of Williams who pleaded guilty to four felonies.