Police disclosed that a Canadian Football League player is HIV positive after he was charged with sexual assault, saying they thought a public health warning about his health status was necessary.

Trevis Smith, a linebacker on the Saskatchewan Roughriders, was arrested Oct. 28 in Regina, Saskatchewan, and charged with aggravated sexual assault.

Smith was freed on bail and ordered by a judge Nov. 2 to practice safe sex, tell all future partners that he's HIV positive and surrender his passport, according to a story in Tuesday editions of The New York Times.

An unidentified woman said in court documents that Smith assaulted her between November of 2003 and last May, Constable Marc Searle told the newspaper. Under Canada's criminal code, aggravated sexual assault means a victim has been wounded, maimed, disfigured or had his or her life endangered.

After his arrest, Smith was placed on the Roughriders' disabled list and hasn't played since. The team's season ended with a loss to Montreal in the playoffs on Sunday.

Smith has been a member of the Roughriders for the past seven seasons. The Times reported that team officials knew he was HIV positive for more than a year, but privacy laws prevented other players from being told.

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