Penal Code 288.5 PC – Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child
California Penal Code 288.5 PC defines the crime of continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14 as three or more instances of sexual abuse by someone who lives in the same home or has recurring access to the child over three months or longer. The offense is a felony punishable by up to 16 years in state prison.
PC 288.5 says, "(a) Any person who either resides in the same home with the minor child or has recurring access to the child, who over a period of time, not less than three months in duration, engages in three or more acts of substantial sexual conduct with a child under the age of 14 years at the time of the commission of the offense, as defined in subdivision (b) of Section 1203.066, or three or more acts of lewd or lascivious conduct, as defined in Section 288, with a child under the age of 14 years at the time of the commission of the offense is guilty of the offense of continuous sexual abuse of a child and shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a term of 6, 12, or 16 years."
If the prosecution can prove this crime, and there are three or more instances, the trial can seek a sentence of 16 years in prison. This is a stark reminder of the severe repercussions of such a grave sex crime.
Negotiating with the Prosecutor
They have an Assistant Head Deputy who will handle offers on these cases while they are at the preliminary hearing level. Once the case gets past the preliminary hearing level, the head sex crime prosecutor in downtown LA will make the offer to settle the case.
Because the victim is usually young in these cases, the prosecutors in downtown LA will usually make their best offer before the preliminary hearing.
For example, if a person is charged with this type of charge, the prosecutors offer ten years to settle the case. The person says, I don't want to go to prison for ten years, and he does the preliminary hearing, which forces the alleged victim to testify. This is a common tactic used in negotiations to try and get a better deal.
So, now the young victim has to come and testify and give their story — which is very nerve-wracking and concerning.
What will end up happening is that the prosecutors will say that because you took us to the preliminary hearing and made the victim get on the witness stand, now we're going to offer you 15 years to settle the case.
Reviewing Strengths and Weaknesses
If you go to trial and lose, you could face a maximum sentence of 16 years. The severity of this potential sentence underscores the importance of evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the case.
This is because some weaknesses in the prosecution's case are pointed out during the preliminary hearing, or maybe the prosecutors needed to have some information in the police report because the police needed to investigate the case comprehensively.
That happens all the time. You can now tell the boss they made you a ten-year offer before the preliminary hearing. Still, now that we've done the initial hearing where witnesses have testified under penalty of perjury, you can see more than meets the eye here.
The police did not have all the case information, so the 10-year offer should not be that high.
Of course, you also have the defense of arguing that the person is innocent. Maybe they said they didn't do what is being claimed relating to the continuous sexual abuse of a minor.
When they say that, it has to be over three months; there must be at least three separate acts on three dates. Sometimes, there are problems with that, and the police need to gather all the information correctly; therefore, they need to realize the difficulties associated with the case.
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