Arranging a Meeting with a Minor for Lewd Purposes - Penal Code 288.4 PC
California Penal Code 288.4 PC makes it a crime to arrange a meeting with a minor under the age of 18 with the intent to engage in sexual conduct at the meeting. The offense can be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony and carries up to four years in jail and registration as a sex offender.
PC 288.4 says, "(a) (1) Every person who, motivated by an unnatural or abnormal sexual interest in children, arranges a meeting with a minor or a person they believe to be a minor for the purpose of exposing their genitals or pubic or rectal area, having the child expose their genitals or pubic or rectal area, or engaging in lewd or lascivious behavior, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000), by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by both the fine and imprisonment.
(2) Every person who violates this subdivision after a prior conviction for an offense listed in subdivision (c) of Section 290 shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison.
(b) Every person described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) who goes to the arranged meeting place at or about the arranged time shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years.
(c) Nothing in this section shall preclude or prohibit prosecution under any other provision of law."
Simply put, it's illegal to arrange a meeting with a minor if you are motivated by a sexual interest in children and have the intent to engage in sexual conduct with them.
The “sexual activity” could include engaging in lewd and lascivious acts such as touching the child anywhere on their body for sexual gratification or exposing genitals or rectal area.
Lewd or lascivious behavior means to touch a child's body with the intent of sexual arousal of either party. You don't have to touch bare skin. It includes any “touching,” even through their clothes.
You don't have to actually carry out the planned sexual activity or even have a meeting with the minor to be charged under PC 288.4.
The act of arranging the meeting itself is sufficient to be arrested, charged, and convicted of setting up a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes.
What is an Example?
For example, someone in a chat room starts conservation with a police decoy posing as a 14-year-old girl seeking friends. The decoy explains their age and will then express an interest in finding a boyfriend they could meet somewhere. Taking the bait, they set up the meeting and arrive at the location, where plain-clothes police officers immediately arrest them.
Those individuals who are charged with arranging a meeting to have some sexual contact with a minor under the age of 18 are facing up to four years in prison for each count, plus registering as a sex offender. You must defend yourself properly and hire an attorney with experience dealing with these types of cases.
The most significant factors that are looked at by prosecutors and judges in these cases are your criminal record, if you have any, how old the alleged victim was at the time of the incident, whether or not you have any prior sex-related offenses on your record and a host of other factors.
They're assessing your dangerousness level as a sexual predator. Our Los Angeles criminal defense lawyers are reviewing the law below for more information.
What are the PC 288.4 Penalties?
Penal Code 288.4, arranging a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes is a “wobbler” that can be filed as a misdemeanor or felony crime.
The decision is usually based on the circumstances of the case and the defendant's prior criminal record.
If convicted of a misdemeanor case of arranging a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes, the penalties include;
- up to one year in county jail,
- a maximum fine of $5,000,
- summary probation.
Suppose the defendant has any prior convictions requiring them to register as a California sex offender, or they show up at the location of the meeting. In that case, a felony case will typically be filed, and the penalties include:
- 16 months, two or three years in a California state prison,
- a maximum fine of $10,000,
- formal probation.
Any misdemeanor or felony conviction could result in a defendant being ordered to register as a sex offender under California Penal Code 290 PC.
This means they must register at their local police station annually, and their information will be posted on Megan's Law website.
What are the Related Crimes?
Several California crimes could be charged in addition to, or instead of Penal Code 288.4, such as:
- Penal Code 288 PC – lewd acts with a minor,
- Penal Code 288.2 – sending harmful matter to a minor,
- Penal Code 311 PC – child pornography,
- Penal Code 261.5 – statutory rape.
Can Police Pretend They're an Underage Girl?
A lot of people don't realize that the police go into chat rooms, on Snap Chat, and all sorts of different venues where they know people are trying to get together with underage girls to have some sexual encounter illegally.
This is where the police are posing as underage girls, and they specifically tell the person that they're talking to that they're under the age of 18. They will speak in a manner trying to get the person to meet with them and say that they want to engage in some sexual activity with them.
They are attempting to catch that person and arrest them, and a lot of people say the police shouldn't be allowed to do that. They shouldn't be allowed to pretend to be someone they're not.
They are allowed to do that because they are in the competitive business of ferreting out crime.
So, as part of that business, they're allowed to do what's necessary to catch people who are committing these grave crimes and who are going after underage people.
One big thing I see them do is go on a site that is supposed to be for 18-year-olds, and they pose as young girls looking for guys.
They'll start talking to somebody and agree to meet with that person to engage in some sexual activity. Then, the next thing you know, they'll text them, telling them they're only 15 years old.
Suppose the person continues to pursue the law enforcement officer, thinking that they're an underage girl and thinking that they're going to have some sexual activity with that person. They go and meet with that person. In that case, they're going to be arrested and prosecuted.
Yes, law enforcement can do it that way, whether people like it or not or think it's fair. They have pushed the bar when it comes to trying to prosecute these sex crime cases and go after people who they believe are involved in illegal sexual activities with young girls under the age of 18.
What are the PC 288.4 Defenses?
We'll talk about what evidence the police were able to gather. For example, they typically will grab your phone to see what is on it. A lot of times, they're searching for child pornography.
They're also searching for any messages between you and any children, and finally, a lot of these arranging sex with minor cases, you're talking to law enforcement when you're making these arrangements, so they're going to look for that communication between you and law enforcement to prove that you are the one that they were talking to.
To counter PC 288.4 charges, we often want to review all of the facts and details of the case. I'll usually have you meet with a psychiatrist or psychologist who can author a report about you—your background—and whether or not you are a danger to the community and minors in particular, assessing whether or not you could be a recidivist.
They also usually do a static 99 report, which again looks at your history, the offense you've committed, and the percentage of the time you would do something like this again or even worse. That's the biggest concern for prosecutors and judges as they deal with these cases in criminal court.
There are things you can do — there are defenses. Some strategies can be employed to limit your exposure when it comes to a sex-related offense on the internet, such as:
- you were not motivated by a sexual interest in minors,
- you had no intent to engage in sexual activity at the meeting,
- you had a reasonable belief the person was not a minor,
- entrapment by police.
We could argue that you reasonably believed the person you spoke to was over 18. Further, we might be able to argue you are a victim of entrapment, where undercover police pressured you into committing a crime you would have otherwise not committed.
So, if you or a loved one finds themselves in a position where you're being charged with a sex crime, you've been arrested for soliciting a minor, or some other crime related to that, pick up the phone.
Make the call. Sit down with Ron Hedding. I've been doing this for almost three decades, handling these types of cases since the internet has become a prevalent place for people to interact and since law enforcement has gotten into the internet and began to arrest people. Hedding Law Firm is based in Los Angeles County.
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