HIV positive man charged with sexual assault of a child

A Wauwatosa man who is HIV positive is being charged with multiple sex crimes after police say he had unprotected sex with a 15-year-old boy.

Eugene Gross, 51, is charged with multiple counts of sexual assault of a child, using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime, and second degree recklessly endangering safety.

According to the criminal complaint, Gross and the 15-year-old boy met and communicated through social media starting in July. Police say the teen told them he would invite Gross to his home while his parents weren’t home and they would engage in sexual activity.

The complaint goes on to say the teen was left at home on August 11 while his mother was out running errands and invited Gross back to his Brookfield home to engage in sexual activities. When his mother returned, the teen ran upstairs from the basement and claimed there was a strange man in the house who had raped him. The boy’s mother then called police.

When officers arrived, they found a man matching the suspect’s description walking through the backyard of a home near the scene. The man was later identified as Gross. Gross told police he believed the boy was between 18 and 19 years old. 

During the course of the investigation, police also discovered Gross took medication for HIV. The criminal complaint alleges Gross had unprotected sex with the victim.