If you have been arrested for the crime of Child Molestation, call experienced Los Angeles lawyer Max Gorby at (323) 477-2819.

• California Penal Code 288 PC – Child Molestation

California Penal Code 288 PC — Lewd acts with a child. (“(“(a) Any person who willfully and lewdly commits any lewd or lascivious act, including any of the acts constituting other crimes provided for in Part 1, upon or with the body, or any part or member thereof, of a child who is under the age of 14 years, with the intent of arousing, appealing to, or gratifying the lust, passions, or sexual desires of that person or the child, is guilty of a felony and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for three, six, or eight years.”

Lewd or lascivious act: Child under 14 years. “To prove that the defendant is guilty of this crime, the People must prove that…The defendant willfully touched any part of a child’s body either on the bare skin or through the clothing; [OR]…The defendant willfully caused a child to touch (his/her) own body, the defendant’s body, or the body of someone else, either on the bare skin or through the clothing…”

“Someone commits an act willfully when he or she does it willingly or on purpose. It is not required that he or she intend to break the law, hurt someone else, or gain any advantage.”

“In the crime of unlawful sexual intercourse [otherwise known as California statutory rape, Penal Code 261 PC “statutory rape” charge], general criminal intent must exist at the time of the commission of the act of [sexual intercourse]. There is no general criminal intent if the defendant had a reasonable and good faith belief that the other person was 18 years of age or older at the time that person engaged in the act of [sexual intercourse]. Therefore, a reasonable and good faith belief of such age is a defense to unlawful [sexual intercourse]. If after consideration of all of the evidence, you have a reasonable doubt that the defendant had general criminal intent at the time of the act of [sexual intercourse], you must find [him] [her] not guilty of the crime.”

California Penal Code 290 — Sex Offender Registration Act. (“(c) The following persons shall be required to register: Any person who, since July 1, 1944, has been or is hereafter convicted in any court in this state or in any federal or military court of a violation of…any act punishable under [California Penal Code] Section…288 [lewd acts with a minor]

California Penal Code 1203.1g — Sexual assault on minor; restitution for costs of medical or psychological treatment of victim; condition of probation. (“In any case in which a defendant is convicted of sexual assault on a minor, and the defendant is eligible for probation, the court, as a condition of probation, shall order him or her to make restitution for the costs of medical or psychological treatment incurred by the victim as a result of the assault and that he or she seek and maintain employment and apply that portion of his or her earnings specified by the court toward those costs. As used in this section, “sexual assault” has the meaning specified in subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 11165.1 [which includes violations of California Penal Code 288 PC “lewd acts with a child”]. The defendant is entitled to a hearing concerning any modification of the amount of restitution based on the costs of medical and psychological treatment incurred by the victim subsequent to the issuance of the order of probation.”)

A Defendant guilty of failure to register as a sex offender under Penal Code 290 PC faces up to one year in county jail or up to three years in the state prison.

Please contact Attorney Max Gorby at (323) 477-2819 regarding any questions related to California Penal Code section  288 Child Molestation.