Child Molestation

California Penal Code 288 PC makes it illegal to touch a child anywhere on their body for sexual purposes. Charges typically involve claims that the minor was touched on a sexual organ or was otherwise overtly molested, but a person can still be charged with lewd acts on a minor even if the contact wasn’t on bare skin or a part of the body that is considered sexual.

  • State Penalties: <p>California imposes a range of penalties for child molestation, with their application and severity varying depending on how old the child was when the act or acts took place and the defendant’s prior history. If the victim was under 14, the offense is a felony, and the punishment is up to one year in the county jail plus probation or 3, 6, or 8 years in the state prison. If violence or duress was involved, the prison sentence increases in severity to 5, 8, or 10 years. Defendants with a prior conviction for a child molestation crime can be prosecuted under California's habitual sexual offender law, which would increase the sentence to 25 years to life in prison. Molesting a child under 14 is also a strike under California's Three Strikes Law. If the child was 14 or 15 and the defendant was at least 10 years older, the offense is a wobbler. If prosecuted as felony, the punishment is up to one year in the county jail plus probation or 16 months, 2, or 3 years in the state prison. The penalty for a misdemeanor conviction is up to one year in the county jail plus probation. A 16 or 17-year-old victim would result in a prosecution under California’s statutory rape law or for sexual battery, which is defined as touching another person’s intimate parts for sexual gratification, arousal, or abuse. In both instances the offense is wobbler. In addition, a conviction under Penal Code 288 can result in lifetime registration as a sex offender as well as court-ordered reimbursement of any medical or psychological treatment the victim required. If the victim suffered substantial physical injury, an additional and consecutive five-year prison sentence will apply.</p>
  • Difference between California state and Federal statutes: <p>Federal law punishes offenders convicted of child molestation with imprisonment and fines, with heavier penalties for crimes that occur under aggravated circumstances such as force, threats, and kidnapping. It does not normally apply to offenses that occur inside a single state, unless the abuse takes place on military bases, Indian territories, and other federal lands.</p>
  • Related Crimes: <p>Annoying or molesting a child under 18, arranging a meeting with a child for lewd purposes, child pornography, contacting a minor to commit a felony, continuous sexual abuse of a child, oral copulation with a minor, kidnapping, sending harmful matter to seduce a minor, and sex with a child under 10, sexual battery</p>
  • When is the best time to act?: <p>Anyone charged with child molestation needs to hire an experienced California criminal defense attorney right away, before they give a statement to the police. A conviction can result in intense criminal and civil penalties, especially if the offense is prosecuted as a felony, as well as entry into a state registry of sex offenders.</p>
  • Successful Defenses: <p>Proof that another adult actually committed the acts of molestation, that the child was ‘coached’ into claiming that they were molested, and that the contact was accidental and not meant to arouse are all defenses against child molestation charges.</p>
  • High profile/Government cases: <p>In March 2014, Matthew Steve Jones, 20, was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. Also known as the ‘Boogey Man’ and ‘Carmichael Creeper’, Jones had broken into five Sacramento County homes intending to sexually assault children. In 2012, when he was 18, Jones infiltrated two homes and assaulted a 10-year-old and a 12-year-old for hours. While living in a sex offender facility in Stockton he entered a nearby house five times and repeatedly molested a disabled 5-year-old boy.</p>
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