Setting Up a Meeting with a Minor for Lewd Purposes

California law is strict and imposes hefty penalties on sexual predators, especially people seeking sexual contact with children. It is not only a severe offense to engage in lewd acts with a minor under PC 288 but also an offense to try to arrange a meeting with a minor for these purposes. You could face charges whether or not the lewd act happens. It is illegal under Penal Code 288.4 to arrange a meeting with a person under 18 years old intending to engage in indecent acts with them. You could face severe punishment, including jail term, fines, and probation if you are guilty of this offense. If you are accused of planning a meeting with a person below 18 years old for lewd purposes in San Diego, you should contact an attorney immediately. Our attorneys at the Law Offices Of Anna R. Yum can help you challenge the allegations against you.

Understanding Penal Code 288.4

It is an offense under Penal Code 288.4 for any person to arrange a meeting with a minor below 18 years while motivated by unnatural sexual interest and to do the following:

• Having the child expose their rectal areas, pubic, or genitals
• Engage in acts that amount to lewd or lascivious conduct with the minor
• Exposing your rectal areas, pubic, or genitals

The prosecutor must prove the following elements  for you to be convicted of arranging to meet with a minor for lewd purposes:

• You set up a meeting with a minor or someone you believed to be a minor.
• You were motivated by an abnormal or unnatural sexual interest in children when you did so
• During the meeting, you intended to have the child expose their genitals, rectal, or pubic area, or to expose their genitals, rectal, or pubic area.

A Minor Or A Person You Believed To Be A Minor

Any person who is below 18 years old is a minor. An individual is considered to turn 18 years old on the first minute of their 18th birthday. Penal Code 288.4 makes it an offense for you to set up a meeting with any person below 18 years old for sexual purposes.

It is also a severe offense to set up a meeting with a person you only believe to be a minor. Law enforcement officers frequently enforce Penal Code 288.4 through sting operations performed by undercover officers who pretend to be children.

Motivated By An Unnatural Or Abnormal Sexual Interest In Children

You can only be guilty under this law if the prosecutor proves that you set up a meeting because you had an unnatural or abnormal sexual interest in children. The prosecutor can secure evidence for this element from your past relationship with the minor. This can include previous phone calls, conversations, and the content of emails sent to the minor. You cannot be guilty of planning a meeting with a child for lewd purposes if you arranged the meeting because of another non-sexual motivation.

Intent To Engage In Lewd Conduct

You should have intended to engage in any of the following acts during  the meeting for you to be guilty of this crime:

• Engage in lewd or lascivious conduct with a minor. This can include initiating a touch seeking to arouse you or the minor sexually.
• Making a minor to expose their genitals, rectal, or pubic areas
• Expose your genitals, rectal, or pubic area.

Lewd or lascivious acts involve touching any part of the minor’s body, including through their clothes. It also constitutes causing a minor to touch their own body. You cannot be guilty under Penal Code 288.4 if the prosecutor fails to prove that you intended to engage in this act at the meeting.

Going To Meet A Minor For Lewd Purposes

Penal Code 288.4 applies to the offense of setting a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes. However, you can face elevated penalties under PC 288.4(b) if you attend the arranged meeting place on or about the arranged time. You can be guilty under PC 288.4(b) if you follow through with an intent to meet the minor by going to the prearranged place at the prearranged time.

According to PC 288.4(b), it does not matter whether you meet the minor with whom you made an arrangement to meet. It also does not matter whether the individual you made an arrangement to meet wanted to meet you or wanted to engage in lewd acts. You intend to commit lewd and lascivious acts with the minor that are crucial to claims of PC 288.4.

Penalties You Could Face For Panning A Meeting With A Minor For Lewd Purposes

The penalties for Penal Code 288.4 offenses vary to a certain degree depending on the offense for which you are guilty. Some penalties are initially the same, but the penalties could have significant differences for post-conviction relief purposes. This mainly applied to the period of sex offender registration required for the different offenses.

In most situations, you will face misdemeanor charges for setting up a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes. In this case, the possible penalties for the offense include:

• A fine that does not exceed $5000
• A jail term that does not exceed one year in a county jail
• Summary or misdemeanor probation

You can face felony charges for arranging to meet a minor for lewd purposes if you have a prior conviction for a sex offense, which requires you to register as a sex offender. Some of the sexual crimes that require registration as a sex offender include:

• Violation of California ‘’indecent exposure statute’’
• Forced non-intercourse sex acts like oral copulation by fear or force or forcible penetration with a foreign object PC 289
• Sexual battery under PC 243.4
• Most violations of the California rape statute under PC 261

You could face the following penalties if you have one of the above convictions on your record:

• A fine that does not exceed $10,000
• A jail term of up to 16 months, two years, or three years in a state prison
• Formal or felony probation

You also face felony penalties if you are alleged to have attended the meeting you arranged with the minor. In this case, the penalties you could face include:

• A jail term of two years, three years, or four years in a state prison
• A fine that does not exceed $10,000
• Felony probation

Requirement To Register As A Sex Offender

You could be subjected to sex offender registration under PC 290 if the judge convicts you of setting up a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes. If the judge convicts you of a misdemeanor, you will be designated tier-one. Tier one carries a minimum registration requirement of ten years. You will be designated tier three if you are convicted of a felony. Tier three usually carries a lifetime registration requirement.

You must register with the city or county police where you live under the Sex Offender Registration Act. You could also be subjected to the registration renewal every time you move and every year within five working days of your birthday.

Three Strikes Law

Penal Code 288.4 offenses are not regarded as ‘’strike’’ offenses according to the Three Strikes Law. Therefore, offenses under this law are not considered severe or violent. However, this does not imply that Penal Code 288.4 offenses do not attract severe repercussions. It only means that the offense does not fit within the meaning of a violent or severe offense under California sentencing law.

Probation Sentence

Unlike an actual jail or prison sentence, a probation sentence is a period of supervision. The law permits a probation sentence for all Penal Code 288.4 offenses. Unfortunately, there is no assurance that you will be offered or receive a probation sentence after a Penal Code 288.4 conviction.

You can receive a probation sentence after a conviction for any Penal Code 288.4 offense based on the following factors:

• Your criminal record
• The harm you caused to the minor, if any
• The sophistication of your crime
• The conditions of any plea bargain between your attorney and the district attorney

A felony probation officer can monitor your probation sentence from time to time. On the other hand, the court typically monitors probation in misdemeanor Penal Code 288.4 convictions. You could still be placed on formal probation even after a misdemeanor violation.

A probation sentence has conditions that you must adhere to. The conditions vary from one case to another. However,  for almost all Penal Code 288.4 cases that involve probation, the conditions can include:

• No violation of the law while on probation
• Registering as a sex offender
• Payment of restitution if the victim suffered economic loss
• Payment of fines and court fees
• Criminal protective orders

The district attorney could file a violation of probation charges against you if you violate any condition of your probation sentence. Sometimes, the judge can impose some actual incarceration as part of the probation condition if the court grants you a probation sentence. If the judge does this, the jail sentence made as part of probation conditions is always shorter. Similarly, the jail sentence that forms part of a probation sentence could be served alternatively on house arrest or work release.

A protective order that forms part of any Penal Code 288.4 conviction could include restraining orders in favor of the minor. The restraining orders will also preclude you from visiting areas where children gather, such as playgrounds, parks, and amusement parks.

Offenses Involving Moral Turpitude

The offense of setting up a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes is regarded as an offense involving moral turpitude. This offense constitutes immoral behavior or entails dishonesty. Crimes involving moral turpitude attract adverse collateral penalties and repercussions. The negative consequences can include:

• Reputation damage
• Denial of entry into the armed forces
• Discharge from the military
• Negative repercussions for professional licensing
• Denial of reentry into the United States
• Denial of naturalization, and
• Deportation

Additional Penalties

Apart from the above penalties and consequences, you could face additional punishment if convicted under PC 288.4. The additional penalties can include the following:

• Probation and parole conditions
• Family law repercussions like CPS investigations, CACI listing, adoption, child visitation, and child custody
• Fines and court fees
• Firearm prohibition

Defenses To Penal Code 288.4 Charges

The offense of setting up a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes is relatively new. Therefore, the law on this offense is still changing. You should hire an experienced sex crimes attorney if you are accused of this offense. Your attorney can help you develop the relevant legal defenses against your charges. Some of the potential legal defenses include the following:

You Are A Victim Of Entrapment

Entrapment happens when the law enforcement officers act in an overbearing way. As a result, the officers can make you engage in acts that you otherwise would not have. This could be a valid defense if you provide sufficient evidence.

Entrapment can also happen when the police talk you into engaging in something through threats, flattery, fraud, harassment, and pressure. You can be convicted under Penal Code 288.4 after being caught in an internet sting operation by undercover police officers. The police could disguise themselves as minors and flirt with potential targets that could eventually agree or suggest a meeting. You can claim an entrapment if the law enforcement officers do this to you.

You Were Not Aware That The Person You Were Meeting Was A Minor

You could claim that you were unaware that the other individual was a minor. It is unclear whether this defense is admissible because Penal Code 288.4 is relatively new. The jury, however, might be reluctant to put you away for this offense if they feel that you were not aware that you were setting up a meeting with a minor. You and your criminal defense attorney can present this defense if you have evidence that you reasonably believe the victim was over 18 years old.

No Intention To Engage In A Lewd Activity At The Meeting

You cannot be convicted of arranging to meet a minor for lewd purposes, even if you have a romantic or sexual desire for the minor. You can only face the charges if you intend to engage in sexual activity at the meeting in question. The facts of the alleged meeting can support a claim that you had no plans to engage in lewd acts during the meeting.

You Were Not Motivated By A Sexual Interest In Children

You could only be guilty of planning a meeting with a child for lewd purposes if you were motivated by an unnatural sexual interest in children when you arranged the meeting. This might not have been the case with you. Instead, you could have been motivated by boredom and loneliness. It could also have been that you had a vague romantic interest in the individual you were corresponding with but would not enter a sexual relationship with a minor. You might only have been thinking of getting to know the person better now and starting a romantic relationship once he/she ages.

Related Offenses

Some of the crimes that could be charged alongside Penal Code 288.4 are:

Statutory Rape – Penal Code 261.5 PC

It is a crime under PC 261.5 for you to have sexual intercourse with another person who is not your spouse, and he/she is under 18 years old. You could face charges whether the minor initiates or willingly participates since he/she cannot legally consent to sex. If the prosecutor accuses you of statutory rape, the prosecutor must prove the following elements:

• You had sexual intercourse with a minor. Any attempt at sexual penetration, regardless of how slight, is considered sexual intercourse, even if there is no ejaculation
• You and the minor were not married at the time of the act.
• The minor was below 18 years old at the time of the crime.

Statutory rape is always charged as a wobbler. In this case, you could face misdemeanor or felony charges depending on the following circumstances:

Violating PC 261.5 is usually a misdemeanor if you are not over three years older than the alleged minor.

If you are over three years older than the alleged minor, violating PC 261.5 could be charged as a misdemeanor or felony.

Violating PC 261.5 could be charged as a misdemeanor or felony if you are 21 or older and the alleged minor was below 16 years old at the time the intercourse took place.

You could face the following penalties if you are convicted of misdemeanor statutory rape:

• A fine of up to $1000
• A jail term that does not exceed one year in a county jail
• Informal probation

You could face the following penalties if you are convicted of felony statutory rape:

• A fine that does not exceed $10,000
• A jail term of 16 months, two years, or three years unless you were 21 years or older and the minor was under 16 years, in which case you could face a jail term of two, three, or four years.
• Informal or formal probation

The defenses you could present against PC 261.5 include:

• You are a victim of false accusation
• No sexual intercourse happened
• You honestly and reasonably believed that the said minor was 18 years or older.

Lewd Acts With A Minor – Penal Code 288 PC

It is an offense under PC 288 for any person to engage in lewd and lascivious acts with a minor. This act is commonly known as child molestation. This offense is widely defined as any touching of a minor below 14 years old when done for sexual purposes.

If the prosecutor claims that you have violated PC 288, the prosecutor must prove the following elements beyond a reasonable doubt:

You intentionally touched any part of a minor’s body either on the bare skin or through the clothing; you deliberately caused the minor to touch their body, your body, or the body of another person either through the clothing or on the bare skin.

You committed the offense intending to arouse, appeal to, or gratify the sexual desires, passions, or lust of yourself or the minor.

The minor was below 14 years old during the act.

If you are guilty of violating PC 288, you could serve a jail term in a state rather than a county jail. You can also serve a section of your jail term while on house arrest or through a work release program, even with electronic monitoring.

The court can, however, grant you probation following a conviction of lewd acts with a minor below 14 years without force or fear. The judge can grant you probation only if:

• There are unusual and unique factors justifying probation
• Probation serves the interest of justice
• Releasing you from jail does not pose harm to society

The court cannot grant you split or suspended sentences in PC 288 cases. The judge could also order that your sentences run together if you are convicted of two or more counts of child molestation in the same case.

The following are the defenses you could use to fight PC 288 charges:

• You passed a polygraph
• You were intoxicated
• You were legally insane
• The police committed misconduct
• Accidental touching
• The child is lying

Find a Criminal Defense Attorney Near Me

Planning a meeting with a child for lewd purposes is a serious offense under California law. The consequences of the crime can be detrimental and affect many areas of your life, especially if convicted of a felony. If you are under investigation for planning a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes, you should contact an attorney immediately. Ensure that you go for an attorney experienced in handling sex crimes, given the complicated nature of sex crimes.

At Law Offices Of Anna R. Yum, we have compassionate attorneys who can help you fight your charges in San Diego. You can count on our unwavering support, no matter how intricate the charges against you. We will do our best to create the most suitable legal defense for your charges. Contact us at 619-493-3461 to speak to one of our attorneys.