Three people get herpes after janitor puts penis in water bottles, Texas officials say

A janitor accused of rubbing his penis inside water bottles while working at a Texas family medical practice is believed to have given three people a sexually transmitted disease, according to court records.

The now-former janitor was caught after a woman who worked in the office noticed her water bottle had a bad smell, McClatchy News reported. The woman, identified by police as M.A., told Houston authorities she threw that bottle away, but then later found yellow liquid in her new bottle of water.

A urinalysis test confirmed urine was in her water, according to a complaint filed in Harris County on Oct. 14. The janitor was later caught on video twice while putting his penis in her water bottle.

“The entire mouth of the water bottle” touched his penis while being recorded, police said, and the inside of the bottle surrounded his penis.

Janitor Lucio Catarino Diaz, 50, was arrested on Oct. 5 and charged with “aggravated assault - bodily injury with a deadly weapon,” records show. He was infected with herpes simplex virus type 1 and chlamydia when he was taken into custody.

The woman who reported Diaz told authorities she did not have an STD prior to the incidents, but she has since tested positive for the same incurable, and potentially fatal, type of herpes, officials said.

A Texas forensic nurse examiner confirmed she could have contracted the virus when she drank from a water bottle that Diaz rubbed his penis inside of.

Since then, Diaz has been charged with two additional counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

In the two complaints filed on Nov. 17, authorities said he caused two other people — identified as N.C. and D.C. — to contract herpes simplex virus 1. Authorities said Diaz “did use his penis to covertly rub the interior of (their water bottles) knowing that he would be causing (their mouths) to come into contact with ... bodily fluids from his penis.”

Authorities have not said if N.C. and D.C. worked in the doctor’s office.

At least 13 people have accused Diaz of peeing in their water, according to KTRK.

Diaz is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 28.

This story was originally published November 22, 2022 at 10:37 AM with the headline "Three people get herpes after janitor puts penis in water bottles, Texas officials say."