A 5-year-old girl is undergoing treatment for possible HIV infection after the man charged with raping her -- an illegal alien who was previously deported to Mexico -- admitted he has the virus, authorities said.

The case has re-energized some state lawmakers to push for tougher penalties for people who commit sex crimes and knowingly expose their victims to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Julio Cesar Cruz Martinez, 32, of Fairhope is being held in a segregated unit at the Baldwin County Corrections Center on charges of first-degree rape, sexual abuse and sodomy, a jail official said Wednesday.

Police said Martinez has confessed to some of the acts involving the girl and to knowing he had HIV before the crime reportedly occurred Sept. 13.

Officers notified the family immediately after Martinez disclosed his infection, sheriff's spokesman Lt. John Murphy said.

"The child has been taken to medical services, where she has been tested and is being given treatment to reduce the risk of the HIV virus," Murphy said Wednesday.

HIV is a virus that destroys the body's ability to fight off illness and is the cause of AIDS. People infected with the virus do not have AIDS until they develop serious symptoms, but they are capable of transmitting the virus through sexual intercourse, according to the AIDS.org Web site.

Martinez has undergone HIV testing at the corrections center to confirm whether he has the virus, Murphy said. The lab results are pending and may not be released publicly, he said.

Deputies had questioned Martinez's identity, since he did not provide valid identification.

Temple Black, spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Wednesday that Martinez is an illegal alien who has been deported to Mexico at least once. The department placed an administrative hold on Martinez -- requiring him to remain jailed -- after identifying him by photo and fingerprints, Temple said.

If convicted of the rape and other charges, Martinez would serve his sentence in the U.S. before being returned to Mexico, he said.

Baldwin County District Attorney Judy Newcomb said this week that her office was looking into whether Martinez should face additional charges for knowing he had the virus when he allegedly raped the girl.

Newcomb said such crimes typically fall under assault or endangerment statutes, and she doubted that Alabama had a statute to enhance charges against someone who knowingly exposed another to HIV or AIDS.

Many U.S. states have laws making it a separate crime for someone to knowingly expose someone to the virus during a criminal act. But no such legislation exists in Alabama, a researcher with the Secretary of State's office confirmed Wednesday.

State Sen. Bradley Byrne, R-Montrose, said he agrees Alabama needs laws that would make it a crime for someone to knowingly expose another to the virus while committing a crime, particularly in cases involving children. Byrne said he plans to push for tougher laws in the next legislative session.

State Public Health Officer Don Williamson said Alabama needs tougher laws to criminalize known HIV exposure, but lawmakers should be careful not to dissuade people from getting tested for the disease.

"The known exposure of another party by somebody who is HIV infected, without warning them or taking precautions, is immoral and reprehensible. We need to figure a way to deal with that," Williamson said.

Lawmakers should be careful to create rehabilitative options for drug addicts and others at high risk to HIV infection, so that get-tough laws don't discourage them from getting tested, he said.

"For some people, ignorance of the law is an excuse," Williamson said. "If they never find out they are infected then they can't be charged with knowingly exposing somebody."