Janitor who spread STDs by urinating in water bottles gets piddly sentence

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An office janitor in Texas who urinated in workers’ water bottles, leading to 13 women getting infected with sexually transmitted diseases, received a lenient sentence for his sick actions.

Lucio Catarino Diaz was arrested in October 2022 after one of the victims noticed her water tasted sour, had an odd smell and was yellowish in colour.

She suspected someone had contaminated it but could never figure out who was responsible, so she threw her water bottle away.

The woman eventually set up a hidden camera and captured Diaz inserting his penis “into the water bottle (turning it upwards to ensure the water in the bottle touched his penis), and rub his penis on the mouth of the bottle,” according to court documents obtained by KPRC.

“I felt disgusted,” the victim, who asked to remain anonymous, told KHOU a month after Diaz’s arrest. “I raised it to my face, smelled it, and it smelled like urine.”

She and other victims who drank from an office water dispenser or their own bottles that had been tainted by Diaz tested positive for sexually transmitted diseases including Herpes simplex virus type 1 and hepatitis A, the court documents state.

Tests on Diaz revealed he was positive for the same STD, as well as chlamydia.

Diaz was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and was handed a mere six years behind bars — despite telling police at the time of his arrest that he did the despicable deed out of “malicious intent” and that it was a “sickness.”

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The District Attorney’s office classified Diaz’s urine as a “deadly weapon” because the herpes virus can “weaken the immune system” and cause “bodily injury that creates a substantial risk of death.”

But the cleaner will not have to register as a sex offender, according to the court docs.

He has already served two years behind bars and is eligible to seek parole after serving three years.

In a statement shared with KPRC, Diaz’s attorney Jimmy Ortiz said: “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,” Ortiz added.

Some of the victims, who worked at the medical building, have since filed a lawsuit against Diaz and the custodial company that employed him.

They are seeking $1 million.