Under California Penal Code § 288.4 PC, it is 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 4 years in jail or prison and registration as a sex offender.
The language of the code section reads:
PC 288.4. (a) (1) Every person who, motivated by an unnatural or abnormal sexual interest in children, arranges a meeting with a minor or a person he or she believes to be a minor for the purpose of exposing his or her genitals or pubic or rectal area, having the child expose his or her 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.
This is the California sex crime of arranging a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes. The offense is also commonly referred to as solicitation of a minor.
The intended sexual conduct that can support Penal Code 288.4 charges includes:
- You exposing your genitals or pubic or rectal area;
- You having the minor expose their genitals or pubic or rectal area; and/or
- Engaging in the kind of “lewd and lascivious” acts outlawed by Penal Code 288 PC, California’s “lewd acts with a minor” law—that is, touching the child anywhere on their body for the purpose of sexual arousal.2
It is important to understand that you can be convicted of “arranging a meeting with a minor for lewd/lascivious purposes” even if you never actually engage in any sexual activity with the minor. Not only that—but you can be convicted even if you never actually meet with the minor.3
Examples
Here are some examples of people who could be prosecuted under PC 288.4:
- A twenty-something woman places a Craigslist personals ad expressing a desire to meet a “young hottie.” She gets a response from a 16-year-old boy. They exchange some flirtatious emails and then arrange to meet at the woman’s apartment for a “date.”
- A middle-aged man participates in an internet chat board focused on “man-boy love.” He engages in an explicitly erotic chat with a user who claims to be a 12-year-old boy and then invites the boy out to dinner.
- A young man meets a flirtatious teenage girl at a party. The man’s friend tells him that the girl is “easy” and “up for anything.” The man gets the girl’s number and calls her a few days later to invite her over to his house.
In order to help you better understand the law, our California criminal defense attorneys will address the following:
If, after reading this article, you would like more information, we invite you to contact us at Shouse Law Group.
1. Elements of the Crime
For you to be convicted of arranging to meet with a minor for lewd purposes in California, prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt the following elements of the jury instructions:
- You arranged a meeting with a minor OR a person you believed to be a minor;
- When you did so, you were motivated by an unnatural or abnormal sexual interest in children; and
- At that meeting, you intended to expose your genitals, pubic or rectal area, have the minor expose their genitals, pubic or rectal area, OR engage in lewd or lascivious behavior.4
Let’s take a closer look at some of the terms in this legal definition.
A Minor or a Person You Believed to be a Minor
A minor is a person who is younger than 18 years old. A person is considered to turn 18 on the first minute of their 18th birthday.5
So this law makes it a crime to arrange a meeting for sexual purposes with anyone under 18—both prepubescent children and older, sexually-mature teenagers.
Example: Frank meets “Taylor” in an online chat room. She claims to be a 14-year-old girl and sends him pictures of herself. Those photos depict a young woman who appears to be sexually mature.
Frank initiates discussions of sexual activity with Taylor. Then Frank and Taylor agree to meet at a fast food restaurant.
Frank is arrested at the restaurant, as it turns out that “Taylor” was actually an undercover police officer.
The fact that Taylor looked physically mature in the pictures does not mean Frank is not guilty under Penal Code 288.4 PC. This law applies to meetings with all minors, not just those who are prepubescent.6
It is important to note that it is also a crime to arrange a meeting with someone you only believe to be a minor.7
This is an important aspect of the law because Penal Code 288.4 PC is frequently enforced through sting operations involving undercover officers who are only pretending to be minors.
Motivated by an Unusual or Abnormal Sexual Interest in Children
In order for you to be guilty under Penal Code 288.4 PC, the prosecutor must be able to prove that you arranged the meeting because you had an unusual or abnormal sexual interest in minors.8
The evidence for this element of the crime would usually come from the context of your previous relationship with the minor—the content of emails, previous conversations and phone calls, etc.
Though if you arranged the meeting because of another, non-sexual motivation, then you are not guilty of arranging a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes.
Example: Paul is a 40-year-old man who lives alone and has few friends. He meets Dan, a 17-year-old boy, in an internet chat room for science fiction fans. Dan is openly gay and occasionally makes sexually suggestive comments to Paul over email. Paul overlooks these because he enjoys Dan’s internet “company.”
Finally Dan invites Paul over to his house to “have some fun.” Paul suggests that they meet at a local café instead, and Dan agrees. Dan’s parents then discover the email correspondence and contact the police.
If Paul is charged with arranging a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes, he should be able to defend himself by arguing that he did not arrange the meeting because of a sexual interest in children.
With the Intent to Engage in Lewd Conduct
In order for you to be guilty of this offense, you must have intended to do one of the following at the meeting:
- Expose your genitals, pubic or rectal area;
- Have the minor expose their genitals, pubic or rectal area; OR
- Engage in lewd or lascivious conduct with the minor—which means initiating any touching that is supposed to sexually arouse either of you.9
Lewd or lascivious conduct includes touching any part of the person’s body, including through their clothes. It also includes causing someone to touch their own body.10
Though if the prosecution cannot prove that you had the intent to engage in this sort of conduct at the meeting, then you are not guilty under California Penal Code 288.4.
Going to a Meeting with a Minor for Lewd Purposes
Penal Code 288.4 PC covers the crime of arranging a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes. However, this law also provides for enhanced penalties if you actually attend the meeting.11
In order for these enhanced penalties to apply, the prosecutor must be able to prove all the basic elements of the crime listed above. PLUS, they must also be able to prove that you went to the arranged meeting place, at the arranged time.12
Note that the enhanced penalties will apply even if you never actually engaged in any sexual activity at the meeting. All that matters is that you showed up for it.
2. Penalties
The penalties for violating Penal Code 288.4 PC depend on your criminal history and the circumstances of the allegations.
Misdemeanor Penalties
In most cases, arranging a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes will be a misdemeanor in California law.13
The potential penalties are:
- Misdemeanor (summary) probation;
- Up to 1 year in county jail; and/or
- A fine of up to $5,000.14
Felony Penalties: Previous Sex Crime Conviction
Arranging to meet a minor for lewd purposes will be charged as a felony if you have a previous conviction for a sex crime that requires you to register under California’s Sex Offender Registration Act.15
This includes a long list of offenses, such as
- most violations of California rape law under the California Penal Code’s 261 sections,
- Penal Code 243.4 PC sexual battery,
- forced non-intercourse sex acts such as oral copulation by force or fear or Penal Code 289 forcible penetration with a foreign object, and
- violations of California “indecent exposure” law.16
If you have one of these convictions on your record, your potential penalties will be:
- Felony (formal) probation;
- 16 months, 2 years or 3 years in California state prison; and/or
- A fine of up to $10,000.17
Felony Penalties: Going to a Meeting with a Minor for Lewd Purposes
As we mentioned above, Penal Code 288.4 is also a felony if you are alleged to have actually shown up for the meeting with the minor.18
The potential felony penalties in this kind of case are:
- Felony probation;
- A fine of up to $10,000; and/or
- 2, 3 or 4 years in state prison.19
Sex Offender Registration Requirement
Perhaps worst of all, a conviction for arranging a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes will subject you to a registration requirement on California’s Sex Offender Registration (Penal Code 290 PC).
If you are convicted of a misdemeanor, you will be designated as a tier-one, carrying a minimum 10-year registration requirement. If you are convicted of a felony, you will be designated as a tier-three, carrying a lifetime requirement.20
The Sex Offender Registration Act requires you to register with the police of the California city or county where you live. This registration has to be renewed
- every year, within 5 working days of your birthday, and
- every time that you move.21
3. Defenses
According to Riverside sex crimes defense attorney Michael Scafiddi:22
“Penal Code 288.4 PC is a pretty nasty law. It was passed only in 2006, and the idea was to ensnare internet ‘sexual predators’ before they could actually prey on minors. Police departments love this law because it gives them an easy way to catch these so-called ‘predators’—namely, going into internet chat rooms or answering Craigslist ads, tricking people into believing they are potential sexual partners under the age of 18.”
Because the California crime of arranging a meeting with a minor for sexual purposes is fairly new, the law on this crime is still evolving. You will want to approach these charges with the help of a very savvy and experienced sex crimes defense attorney.
We may be able to help you by crafting one or more of the following legal defenses:
You Were Not Motivated by a Sexual Interest in Children
You are only guilty of arranging a meeting with a minor for sexual purposes if you were motivated by an abnormal sexual interest in children/minors when you arranged the meeting.23
Perhaps this was not the case with you. You may instead have been motivated by loneliness, or boredom.
Or it could be that you had a very vague romantic interest in the person you were corresponding with—but you would not dream of entering a sexual relationship with a minor and were just thinking of getting to know them better now (and maybe beginning a romantic relationship in the future, once they were of age).
In any of these scenarios, you can argue that you should not be convicted under Penal Code 288.4 PC.
You Did Not Intend to Engage in Lewd Activity at the Meeting
Even if you were motivated by a romantic or sexual interest in the minor, you cannot be convicted of arranging to meet a minor for lewd purposes unless you actually intended to engage in sexual activity at the meeting in question.24
The circumstances of the planned meeting can help support an argument that you had no plans to engage in lewd behavior at the meeting.
Was the meeting supposed to take place in a public place? In the middle of the day? At a time when you needed to be somewhere else (like back at work or school) not long afterward?
You Did Not Know that the Person You Were Meeting Was a Minor
Because California Penal Code 288.4 is a fairly new law, it is not clear whether it is a valid defense to these charges if you did not know the other person was a minor.25
However, this legal defense is certainly worth a try. If nothing else, members of a California jury may be reluctant to put you away for this crime if they believe that you did not even know you were arranging a meeting with a minor.
So if there is evidence that you actually and reasonably believed the “victim” was over 18, you and your criminal defense attorney will want to argue this legal defense.26
You Were a Victim of Entrapment
Entrapment occurs when a police officer behaves in an overbearing way, and as a result, you engage in behavior you otherwise would not have. Entrapment is a valid defense to numerous California crimes, including California prostitution/solicitation.27
Entrapment can occur when law enforcement officers talk you into doing something through
- pressure,
- harassment,
- fraud,
- flattery, or
- threats.28
It is very typical for defendants to be charged with PC 288.4 after being caught in an internet sting operation conducted by undercover officers. Officers pose as minors online and flirt aggressively with potential targets, who may eventually suggest or agree to a meeting.
If this happens to you, you can argue that the entrapment defense means you are not guilty of arranging a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes.
4. Related Offenses
- Penal Code 261.5 PC – statutory rape
- Penal Code 288 PC – lewd acts with a minor
- Penal Code 288.2 PC – sending harmful material to a minor
- Penal Code 311 PC – child pornography
- Penal Code 653b PC – loitering at a school
Additional Reading
For more in-depth information, refer to these scholarly articles:
- The corroboration requirement in child sex abuse cases – Behavioral Sciences & the Law.
- Child Pornography’s Forgotten Victims – Pace Law Review.
- The Competency Requirement for the Child Victim of Sexual Abuse: Must We Abandon It – Miami Law Review.
- The Time Has Come for a Restatement of Child Sex Abuse – Brooklyn Law Review.
- Child Sex Abuse Victims: How Will Their Stories Be Heard after Crawford v. Washington – Campbell Law Review.
Legal References:
- Penal Code 288.4 PC – Arranging a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes. See also Penal Code 290 PC. See also Penal Code 18 PC.
- Same.
- Same.
- Judicial Council of California Criminal Jury Instruction (“CALCRIM”) 1125 – Arranging Meeting With Minor for Lewd Purpose (Pen. Code, § 288.4(a)(1)).
To prove that the defendant is guilty of this crime, the People must prove that:
1. The defendant arranged a meeting with (a minor / [or] a person (he/she) believed to be a minor);
2. When the defendant did so, (he/she) was motivated by an unnatural or abnormal sexual interest in children; [AND]
3. At that meeting, the defendant intended to (expose (his/her) genitals or pubic or rectal area/ [or] have the minor expose (his/ her) genitals or pubic or rectal area/ [or] engage in lewd or lascivious behavior) - CALCRIM 1125 – Arranging Meeting With Minor for Lewd Purpose (Pen. Code, § 288.4(a)(1)). (“A minor is a person under the age of 18. [Under the law, a person becomes one year older as soon as the first minute of his or her birthday has begun.]”)
- Loosely based on People v. Yuksel (2012) 207 Cal.App.4th 850.
- CALCRIM 1125 – Arranging Meeting With Minor for Lewd Purpose (Pen. Code, § 288.4(a)(1)), endnote 8, above.
- Same.
- Same. (“[Lewd and lascivious behavior includes any touching of a person with the intent to sexually arouse the perpetrator or the other person. Lewd or lascivious behavior includes touching any part of the person’s body, either on the bare skin or through the clothes the person is wearing. [A lewd or lascivious act includes causing someone to touch his or her own body or someone else’s body at the instigation of the perpetrator who has the required intent.]]”)
- Same.
- Penal Code 288.4 PC – Arranging a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes, endnote 1, above.
- Judicial Council of California Criminal Jury Instruction CALCRIM 1126 – Going to Meeting With Minor for Lewd Purpose (Pen. Code, § 288.4(b)).
To prove that the defendant is guilty of this crime, the People must prove that:
1. The defendant arranged a meeting with (a minor/ [or] a person (he/she) believed to be a minor);
2. When the defendant did so, (he/she) was motivated by an unnatural or abnormal sexual interest in children;
3. At that meeting, the defendant intended to (expose (his/her) genitals or pubic or rectal area/ [or] have the minor expose (his/ her) genitals or pubic or rectal area/ [or] engage in lewd or lascivious behavior); AND
4. The defendant went to the arranged meeting place at or about the arranged time. - Penal Code 288.4 PC – Arranging a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes, endnote 1, above.
- Same.
- See endnote 1, above.
- Same.
- See endnote 1, above.
- Penal Code 288.4 PC – Arranging a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes, endnote 1, above.
- Same.
- Penal Code 290 PC – California’s sex offender registration requirement [referenced in California’s “meeting with a minor for lewd purposes” law], endnote 5, above. Learn more about California Senate Bill 384, which created the three-tier sex registration system.
- See same.
- Riverside sex crimes defense attorney Michael Scafiddi was a police officer for over a decade before he made the switch to a career seeking justice for criminal defendants. Scafiddi practices sex crime defense law throughout the Inland Empire and represents clients at the Riverside Hall of Justice, the Palm Springs Courthouse, the San Bernardino Courthouse, and the Victorville Courthouse, among others.
- CALCRIM 1125 – Arranging Meeting With Minor for Lewd Purpose (Pen. Code, § 288.4(a)(1)).
- Same.
- CALCRIM 1125 – Arranging Meeting With Minor for Lewd Purpose (Pen. Code, § 288.4(a)(1)), Bench Notes: Instructional Duty. (“The court has a sua sponte duty to instruct on the good faith belief that the victim was not a minor as a defense for certain sex crimes with minors, including statutory rape, when that defense is supported by evidence. Until courts of review clarify whether this defense is available in prosecutions for violations of Pen. Code, § 288.4(b), the court will have to exercise its own discretion.”)
- See CALCRIM 1070 – Unlawful Sexual Intercourse: Defendant 21 or Older (Pen. Code, § 261.5(a) & (d)) [may apply to Penal Code 288.4 arranging a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes as well]. (“<Defense: Good Faith Belief 18 or Over> [The defendant is not guilty of this crime if (he/she) reasonably and actually believed that the other person was age 18 or older. In order for reasonable and actual belief to excuse the defendant’s behavior, there must be evidence tending to show that (he/she) reasonably and actually believed that the other person was age 18 or older. If you have a reasonable doubt about whether the defendant reasonably and actually believed that the other person was age 18 or older, you must find (him/ her) not guilty.]”)
- See People v. West (1956) 139 Cal.App.2d Supp. 923, 924. (“Entrapment is the conception and planning of an offense by an officer and his procurement of its commission by one who would not have perpetrated it except for the trickery, persuasion, or fraud of the officer. Persuasion or allurement must be used to entrap.”)
- See same.