A South Toledo man who police say is HIV-positive was charged yesterday with unlawful sexual conduct with a minor after police found videotapes of him allegedly having sex with boys.

Jerry Steven Gonzales, 46, of 313 Daniels Ave. has been a volunteer for Planned Parenthood of Northwest Ohio's HIV outreach center since 1997, the organization said.

Mr. Gonzales was being held in the Lucas County jail on $250,000 bond set by Judge Gene Zmuda in Toledo Municipal Court.

Toledo police Sgt. George Kral of the department's special victims unit said more charges may be filed.

The charge can be considered either a second or third-degree felony that can bring a prison sentence ranging from one to eight years.

Toledo police chief Mike Navarre said during a news conference he is urging others who had contact with Mr. Gonzales to call authorities and seek medical treatment. Police said Mr. Gonzales has HIV, which is the cause of AIDS.

Chief Navarre said Mr. Gonzales pleaded guilty to a similar, misdemeanor charge in Michigan in 1989 but was not required to register as a sex offender.

Sergeant Kral said a girl found a videotape in an alley near Mr. Gonzales' home and turned it over to a relative. He said the relative played the tape and recognized at least one person on it and turned it over to police.

Mr. Gonzales reported to police his home was burglarized Oct. 7 and again Monday, Chief Navarre said. He said when detectives went to Mr. Gonzales' home to discuss the tape, another police crew was there taking a report on the burglary.

Detectives exercised a search warrant last night to confiscate about 50 videotapes. Sergeant Kral said police viewed Mr. Gonzales having sex with five boys on the tape; two of those, ages 15 and 16, have been identified, he said.

Sergeant Kral said five detectives combed through the tapes to see if any other victims could be identified. He said the sex acts appeared to have been taped in Mr. Gonzales' bedroom.

Mr. Gonzales' computer was seized, but Sergeant Kral said authorities will need another search warrant to look at the hard drive.

Chief Navarre, flanked by Mayor Jack Ford during the news conference, called the charges "horrific" and said he was stunned that a person would use children in such a manner that would put them in harm's way.

"These actions are unconscionable," Chief Navarre said.

Bren Blaine, executive director of Planned Parenthood, said he was shocked by the news. He said Mr. Gonzales was placed on indefinite leave.

"We're very concerned about what's going on, and I'm not very happy about it," Mr. Blaine said. "We had no idea what's been going on. This is something we certainly won't tolerate."

Mr. Blaine said he learned of Mr. Gonzales' arrest through media reports. He said Mr. Gonzales was a volunteer for Planned Parenthood, talking to patrons of gay bars about unprotected sex. Mr. Blaine said he did not know that Mr. Gonzales was HIV-positive.

He said his organization had not received any complaints about Mr. Gonzales and he faithfully attended monthly peer-education meetings and training sessions.

Mr. Blaine said Mr. Gonzales received a small stipend that he used to pay for cover charges at the bars.

Neighbors in his South Toledo neighborhood said Mr. Gonzales was friendly, but kept to himself.

"He was always helpful," said Augusta Holloway, on lived next to Mr. Gonzales.

"He had a lot of young boys around. They would do work around the house, plant flowers for him and stuff like that."

She said neighbors had no idea about Mr. Gonzales' activities inside the home.

Contact Clyde Hughes at:

chughes@theblade.com

or 419-724-6095.

First Published October 13, 2004, 12:10 p.m.