HOUSTON – A man with multiple sexually transmitted and communicable diseases was sentenced to six years in prison for urinating into office workers’ water bottles, resulting in the victims contracting herpes simplex 1 and hepatitis A.
Lucio Catarino Diaz was sentenced on Tuesday after pleading guilty to an aggravated assault with deadly weapon charge.
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According to prosecutors, Diaz already served more than two years behind bars. He will be eligible for parole after serving three years of his six year sentence.
Disturbing details of case
Houston police said the disturbing occurrences happened at a doctor’s office along Houston’s East Freeway, where the victim was employed for 20 years.
According to court documents, there was a 5-gallon water dispenser at the medical practice that was used by staff and others. It was the type of dispenser that had hot and cold settings and situated in a common area to be shared.
On Aug. 30, 2022, an employee dispensed water from it and noticed it had a funny taste and smell. The woman said, after noticing the water tasted sour, she dumped it out.
ORIGINAL STORY: Janitor with STD gives office worker incurable disease after repeatedly urinating in her water bottle, investigators say
From then on, she no longer drank from the dispenser and brought her own water bottle to fill.
The next incident occurred in September of 2022.
The woman said she left her personal bottle, which was half-filled with water, on her desk. When she went to drink the water a day or so later, she noticed it had the same type of funky taste and smell she encountered in the shared dispenser.
She dumped the water out and threw her personal bottle away.
Afterward, she purchased another bottle to bring to work.
One day, a co-worker offered to pour her some coffee in the bottle, but when she removed the cap, she noticed there was a yellowish liquid inside.
The women smelled it, and realized it was urine, Houston police said.
They took the bottle to the on-site physician, who ran a lab test on the liquid. Results confirmed it was, indeed, urine, according to court documents.
They shared their findings with another co-worker, who then remarked that she, too, had a similar strange occurrence of what they experienced.
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Since the office did not have security cameras, the woman whose water bottle had been violated purchased a small camera from Amazon and attached it to her computer. Within a short period of time, the motion detector alerted there was movement near the camera.
The woman reviewed her independent surveillance set up, which showed a disgusting act.
According to investigators, cameras showed the janitor uncap the water bottle on the woman’s desk, unzip his pants, and place his private part inside the bottle.
After urinating inside the bottle, he recapped the water bottle and placed it back on the desk.
Footage showed him repeating the vile act twice over a few days.
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The woman immediately contacted police, who went to question Diaz.
Investigators said, during questioning, Diaz admitted that he did it with malicious intent, according to documents. He allegedly told investigators that he had a “sickness” and did not know how many times he urinated in the workers’ drinking supply.
Blood and urine samples were obtained from Diaz and results indicated he tested positive for herpes simplex 1 virus and hepatitis A. One of them was incurable, documents state.
The victim also had lab work done and learned she had contracted the incurable diseases. Doctors said it could have been transmitted to her after she came into direct contact with Diaz’s bodily fluids, which he placed in her personal property.
It also turned out, she was not alone.
On Nov. 16, 2022, it was discovered that two more women also were infected with the same diseases.
Doctors also said the diseases can weaken the immune system and, in some cases, be life threatening.
The District Attorney’s Office filed on Oct. 13, 2022 against Diaz. He was arrested and was being held by immigration officials.
Since Diaz has already served more than two years behind bars, he will be eligible for parole after serving three years of his six year sentence.
According to court documents, Diaz will not have to register as a sex offender.
Diaz' Attorney Jimmy Ortiz released the following statement:
Mr. Diaz was remorseful for his actions and did not want to go to trial and put the complainants through that process as well. He accepted responsibility for his actions and accepted the negotiated plea offer.
The March 25th court setting is to give the complainants an opportunity to come to court and give a victim impact statement.