PC 266j Transport or Make Child Available for Lewd Act. Sex Crimes Criminal Defense Lawyers Explain Penal Code 266j.
- sexcrimesdefensela
- 12 hours ago
- 6 min read
California penal code 266j makes it a crime to intentionally offer a child, who is under the age of 16, to another person so that the other person can commit a lewd and lascivious act upon the child. PC 266j covers several situations, all of which are illegal per PC 266j, including:
Transport a child to another person for the other person to commit a lewd act against the child,
Provide or offer a child to another person for the other person to commit a lewd act against the child,
Make a child available to another person for the other person to commit a lewd act against the child,
Persuade a child to engage in a lewd act with another person, and
Give a child to another person for the other person to commit a lewd act against the child.
Age of Victim: Per penal code 266j, the crime is committed when the defendant makes available, offers, gives, transports, provides, or encourages a child, who is under the age of sixteen (16), to commit a lewd act with another person. When the child is sixteen (16) years of age or older, PC 266j does not apply. However, other sex crimes might apply to the same situation (i.e., solicit to commit a sex offense, conspiracy to commit a sex offense, pimping, human trafficking, pandering, etc.).
Example: Maria offers the sexual favors of her niece, sixteen (16) year old Marisal, to Maria’s drug dealer, Jose, in exchange for drugs from Jose to Maria. As a result, Maria will be charged with human sex trafficking of a minor (PC 236.1), but PC 266j does not apply because Marisal is over the age of fifteen (15).
Lewd Act Required: A lewd act, sometimes referred to as a lewd and lascivious act, is more clearly defined at PC 288(a). For brevity, Lewd act essentially means unlawful sexual conduct, usually committed against or towards a child.
A lewd act is committed when the defendant touches a child with sexual intent, regardless of whether the touching occurs over the clothes of the child or on the genitals of the child. It is the sexual intent of the child that makes the crime.
Example: Grandpa touches his granddaughter’s face with sexual intent (intent to arouse either himself or his granddaughter). As a result, grandpa is guilty of lewd behavior against his granddaughter.
Lewd Conduct (i.e., Lewd Act) occurs where there is sexual intent in any of the following situations: defendant touches another person with sexual intent, defendant directs another person touch himself or herself with the sexual intent to either sexually arouse the defendant or sexually arouse the other person.
Example: Sarah transports her fifteen (15) year old daughter, Susie, to a brothel, where Susie is to strip and sexually touch herself for private members of the brothel (Lewd Act). As a result, Sarah may be charged with a violation of penal code 266j (transporting a child for a lewd act) or pandering or a minor (providing minors to a house of prostitution).
Specific Intent Required: Penal code 266j is violated when the defendant act with specific intent to offer, give, transport, provide, or encourage a child under the age of sixteen (16) to commit a lewd act with another person (or have a lewd act committed upon the child).
Example: David transports his fifteen (15) years old daughter, Kristie, to modeling studio. Unbeknownst to David, the modeling studio turns out to be a front to produce child pornography (Lewd Conduct Involving Minors). As a result, David is not guilty of PC 266j because he did not intend to transport his daughter to be involved in a lewd act.
Important: Per PC 266j it is immaterial whether the child engaged in a lewd act with another person for the crime to be complete. It is the act of transporting, giving, encouraging, offering, or making available the child for a lewd act that is unlawful. If the child actually engages in lewd behavior after PC 266j is committed, then additional charges may be levied against the defendant.
Example: Mark offers his thirteen (13) year old daughter, Carrie, to Fred, for $100, so that Fred may receive a sexual massage from Carrie. As a result, Mark may be charged with PC 266j, and both Mark and Fred may be charged with PC 288(a) Lewd and lascivious act upon a child under fourteen (14), conspiracy to commit PC 288(a), solicitation to commit PC 288(a), pimping and human trafficking.
PC 266j Penalties
Felony Classification: PC 266j is classified as a felony and it may not be reduced to a misdemeanor under any circumstance.
Prison Sentence: A violation of penal code 266j may result in a prison sentence of up to three (3), six (6), or eight (8) years, depending on the circumstances of the case and the defendant’s criminal history.
Probation Sentence: A probation sentence is not allowed after a conviction for penal code 266j. Furthermore, incarceration after conviction for PC 266j must be served in a California state prison, as opposed to a local county jail, and no part of that prison sentence may be split (partially served out of prison on work release) or suspended (no served subject to conditions of the court).
Three Strikes Application: The crime of transporting or making available a child for a lewd act is not a violent or serious offense that is listed in either PC 667.5 or PC 1192.7, respectively. This means that PC 266j is not a “strike” offense under California’s Three Strikes Sentencing Law.
However, if the defendant has suffered two prior strike offenses, and he is then convicted of violating penal code 266j, the PC 266j conviction may be used to trigger a third strike, which will result in twenty-five (25) years to life sentence.
CIMT: Transporting, offering, providing, giving, encouraging, or making a child available to commit a lewd act is a crime involving moral turpitude. A crime involving moral turpitude conviction, including any conviction for PC 266j, will result in deportation from the United State for non-US citizens. Professional licensing and military service opportunities will also be negatively affected with the arrest or conviction of penal code 266j.
PC 290 Registration: A conviction for PC 266j will require the defendant to register as a sex offender with local law enforcement, the Department of Justice, and other authorities for life (Tier Three). For more information, see PC 290 Registration Requirements.
Firearm Prohibition: A conviction for transporting, providing, encourages, offering, giving, or otherwise making available, a child under the age of sixteen (16), to commit a lewd act, will result in a lifetime firearm, firearm ammunition and body armor prohibition (PC 29800).
Additional Penalties: In addition to the penalties listed above, if the defendant is found guilty of PC 266j, he or she will be ordered to pay fines and fees, suffer criminal protective orders (CPO), suffer possible civil lawsuits, ordered to pay restitution to the child and any other victims, and more.
Note: Per PC 266K(b) Upon the conviction of any person for a violation of Section 266j…, the court may, in addition to any other penalty or fine imposed, order the defendant to pay an additional fine not to exceed twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) (PC 266k(b) Abbrev.).
PC 266j Defenses
Common defenses to penal code 266j charges include statute of limitations (usually expires when the child turns twenty-eight (28) years old), coerced confession, mistake of fact, entrapment, illegal search and seizure, insufficient evidence, and more.
For more information on defenses to sex crimes, see Sex Crimes Defense Strategies.
If you or a loved one is charged with providing, transporting, offering, giving, or otherwise making a child available for lewd act (PC 266j), contact our sex crimes criminal defense lawyers today for a free consultation.
Our team of highly successful sex crimes defense lawyers, including winning trial lawyers, defend all misdemeanor and felony sex crimes charges in the Inland Empire, Orange and Los Angeles County, including sexual battery, prostitution, possession of child pornography, rape by force or fear, indecent exposure, child molestation, annoy or molest a child, and more. Call today.
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