Unionville Man, 37, Charged in Assault Case Also Faces HIV Exposure Count

A 37-year-old Unionville man is facing a trio of felony charges, including allegations that he exposed a victim to HIV without disclosing his status, after his arrest over the weekend in Putnam County. Derik William Pickett was booked into custody on Friday, and court records show he is scheduled for his initial appearance in Putnam County Circuit Court on Tuesday, August 25, at 10 a.m.

According to a probable cause statement cited by KMZU, the alleged assault and deviate sexual intercourse occurred on August 17 or 18. The Putnam County Sheriff's Office, which investigated the case, found that Pickett assaulted a confidential victim and had deviate sexual intercourse with that person, per the same report.

Pickett is charged with one count of first-degree assault or attempted first-degree assault, one count of second-degree sodomy, and one count of knowingly exposing another person to a serious infectious communicable disease. The report states that medical and epidemiological evidence developed during the investigation determined the nature of the conduct, and that Pickett did not inform the confidential victim that he had HIV, putting that person at risk of infection.

What the Charges Carry Under Missouri Law

The most serious of the three counts, first-degree assault, is a Class B felony under Missouri Revised Statutes § 565.050 that carries a prison sentence of 5 to 15 years, according to Rose Legal Services. That charge escalates to a Class A felony punishable by 10 to 30 years or life in prison if the alleged victim suffered serious physical injury, and it requires proving the defendant attempted to kill or knowingly caused or attempted to cause such injury.

Second-degree sodomy, defined under Missouri Revised Statutes § 566.061 as knowingly engaging in deviate sexual intercourse without consent, is a Class D felony carrying up to seven years in prison, per Rose Legal Services. Missouri law defines deviate sexual intercourse as sexual acts involving the genitals of one person and the mouth, tongue, hand or anus of another.

The HIV exposure count falls under Missouri Revised Statutes § 191.677, which the Center for HIV Law and Policy notes was updated in 2021 to evaluate transmission risk based on competent medical or epidemiological evidence. Knowingly exposing another person to HIV or a serious communicable disease without consent in a manner posing a substantial transmission risk is a Class D felony carrying up to seven years, or a Class C felony punishable by 3 to 10 years if transmission actually occurs, according to the Center for HIV Law and Policy.

A Law Already Tested in Missouri's Highest Court

Missouri's HIV disclosure statute has already survived a constitutional test. The Missouri Supreme Court unanimously upheld the law in 2016 in State v. S.F., ruling that criminalizing non-disclosure of HIV status before sexual activity does not violate free speech or privacy protections, as reported by FindLaw. The court held that the disclosure requirement is incidental to the state's interest in preventing harm from disease exposure.

A Rare Case for a Small Rural County

The allegations are playing out in one of Missouri's smallest jurisdictions. Unionville, where Pickett lives, is the county seat and largest municipality in Putnam County, with an estimated 2026 population of 1,649 residents, according to World Population Review. Putnam County as a whole has an estimated population of roughly 4,530 people, ranking as the 110th largest of Missouri's 114 counties, and covers about 517 square miles with a population density under 9 residents per square mile.

Federal crime statistics cited in municipal profiles put Unionville's violent crime rate at 0.6 per 1,000 residents, about 83 percent below the national average, per data compiled by Kurby AI. Pickett's case will move through the Putnam County Circuit Court, which operates within Missouri's 3rd Judicial Circuit alongside Grundy, Harrison and Mercer counties, and which hears all felony cases originating in those counties, according to Wikipedia.

The Putnam County Sheriff's Office, which conducted the investigation leading to Pickett's arrest, operates out of the historic county courthouse in Unionville and serves the county's roughly 4,500 residents, per Discover Policing. No further details about the confidential victim or the circumstances leading up to the alleged assault have been released.