CALGARY - Handcuffs offer protection even more effective than a condom -- and hopefully it isn't too late.

Facing charges of aggravated assault for allegedly infecting two Winnipeg women with HIV, 26-year-old Apay Ogouk turned himself into Calgary police Thursday evening, hours after a national warrant was issued for his arrest.

"He turned himself in at the front counter and we will be notifying Winnipeg that he is in custody," said Calgary Insp. Keith Cain.

"All we're doing is arresting him on a Canada-wide warrant -- it's up to Winnipeg to decide what happens next."

Police in Winnipeg say the Sudanese immigrant is wanted for spreading the lethal virus through unprotected sex.

For three infected women in Winnipeg -- two of them are pressing charges -- the handcuffs come too late.

They have the virus which causes AIDS, and a lifetime of medical care and worry ahead.

For Tamara, who ended up with HIV after dating the accused, it's now a matter of keeping other women safe.

"I'm really happy they've finally done this -- he needs to be stopped," said Tamara, a 24-year-old single mom.

"It's unfair to ruin other people's lives because he doesn't care for his own."

Stopped is one thing. Finding possible victims is another.

It's believed the alleged HIV-carrier has been living in Calgary for months, potentially infecting women across the city with the virus.

His name and photograph are now public, and it's probable there are Calgary women who are in for a nasty shock.

If allegations of Ogouk spreading the HIV virus prove accurate, his local sexual partners face a frightening blood test, and then a terrifying wait for results that may change their lives.

Tamara says her former boyfriend is an outgoing individual who charms women into bed by chatting them up.

"He talks a lot, and he's very friendly," said Tamara.

Her friend Christine, who says she contracted HIV in a one-night fling with the accused, claims he removed the condom she insisted he wear during their only encounter.

First Christine tested positive, and Tamara a few weeks later. They phoned Ogouk at a 403 area code number after learning they had the virus.

Ogouk, they say, was the only possible source of the disease -- and so they called him.

"He denied knowing about it -- he said he'd just learned about it right then," said Tamara.

But police told them otherwise, saying medical records show the suspect had tested positive in 2006.

It was then Winnipeg police launched an investigation that led to a warrant being issued, and Calgary police being alerted to his presence in Alberta.

This isn't the first time police in Canada have issued a warrant over HIV and allegations of knowingly spreading the virus.

Another Winnipeg man from the Sudan, Clato Mabior, is seeking to overturn a 14-year prison sentence, after being convicted of not disclosing his HIV infection to his partners.

It's expected he will be deported once released from jail.

And in 2009, a Hamilton jury found Johnson Aziga guilty of first-degree murder, making him the first HIV-positive man in Canada to be convicted as a killer for recklessly spreading the AIDS-causing virus.

Two of his seven victims later died of AIDS, the disease that follows untreated HIV infection.

HIV, thanks to recent medical breakthroughs, is now controlled through a regime of drugs and constant monitoring of blood samples.

Still, there is no cure, and the spectre of a life cut short through full-blown AIDS remains.

If it's proven in court that Ogouk knowingly spread HIV, Tamara says she isn't convinced prison is punishment enough.

She says real justice would be sending a convicted Ogouk back home to Sudan.

"I'd want to see him deported -- I think he should be sent back home," said Tamara.

- with files from Shawn Logan

michael.platt@sunmedia.ca