OKLAHOMA CITY — Authorities in the state of Washington say an Oklahoma man may have infected up to 170 people with HIV.

Anthony Whitfield is charged with 12 counts of sexual assault in addition to charges of witness tampering and violating no-contact orders. He pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

Eyewitness News 5 first reported on Whitfield in March after Oklahoma health officials said that he might have infected women in the Oklahoma City area. Officials confirmed that Whitfield returned to Oklahoma as recently as 2003 — after he was diagnosed with HIV.

Washington authorities claim he intentionally spread HIV in that state.

Nearly half of the staff at the Thurston County, Wash., health department is working on cases involving Whitfield, according to Seattle’s KOMO-TV.

Four Washington women who had sex with Whitfield have tested positive for HIV. However, the number of potential victims has risen from 12 to 170 within the last month. Forty-five women either refused to be tested or have not been located, health officials said.

The Washington total accounts for women who had sex with Whitfield, as well as those who may have been exposed and transmitted the disease to others. The number does not include potential victims in Oklahoma.

A woman who had a relationship with Whitfield when he lived in Washington said he often talked his way into the lives of women who would give him sex, money and affection.

“There was just something about him … that he had the ability to make you feel that you were really special and beautiful, and you were the only woman in the world to him,” she said.

An Oklahoma City woman told Eyewitness News 5 a similar story in March.

The woman, who declined to identify herself, filed a police report in 1996 when she learned that Whitfield might have been HIV positive. However, Oklahoma City police did not question Whitfield.

According to the Oklahoma State Department of Health, five Oklahoma women have come forward to say they had sexual contact with Whitfield.