California Penal Code 288: Lewd Acts with a Minor

California Penal Code 288 makes it a crime to touch a child for sexual purposes, and a conviction can mean anywhere from a year in county jail to life in state prison, along with mandatory sex offender registration. Which end of that range applies depends on the child’s age, whether force or threats were used, and whether the case involves aggravating circumstances that trigger California’s One Strike sentencing law.

What the Prosecution Has to Prove

Three elements must be established beyond a reasonable doubt. The defendant willfully touched a child, or willfully caused the child to touch the child’s own body, the defendant’s body, or someone else’s body. The touching can be through clothing and does not have to involve any particular body part.

The touching must have been done with the intent to arouse or gratify sexual desires, whether the defendant’s or the child’s. Actual arousal is not required. What matters is the purpose behind the act at the moment it occurred, which is why accidental contact or a touch with a nonsexual purpose falls outside the statute.

Finally, the child’s age must match the subsection charged. Consent is irrelevant. A minor cannot legally consent to sexual activity under California law, so whether the child agreed or even initiated the contact has no bearing on guilt.¹

The Subsections and Who Each Covers

Subsection (a): Child Under 14, No Force

This is the most commonly filed version of the charge. It applies to any lewd act on a child under 14, even where no force was used. Subsection (a) is a straight felony and cannot be reduced to a misdemeanor.¹

Subsection (b): Force, Threats, or Intimidation

When the lewd act is accomplished through force, duress, menace, or fear of bodily harm, the charge moves to subsection (b). The force must be something beyond what is inherent in the touching itself. Subsection (b)(1) covers acts against children under 14, and (b)(2) applies when a caretaker commits the act against a dependent person.¹

Subsection (c): Victim Age 14 or 15 with a 10-Year Age Gap

Subsection (c) covers cases where the child is 14 or 15 and the defendant is at least 10 years older, measured birthdate to birthdate. It also reaches caretakers who commit lewd acts against dependent persons without force. Unlike (a) and (b), this one is a wobbler, meaning the prosecutor can file it as a felony or a misdemeanor.¹

Subsection (i): Bodily Harm

If a defendant convicted under subsection (a) personally inflicted bodily harm on the child, the sentence becomes life in prison with the possibility of parole. Bodily harm here means substantial physical injury caused by force beyond what was needed to commit the offense, and the enhancement has to be specifically alleged and proven.¹

Base Prison Terms and Fines

California uses a triad structure for most of these offenses, giving the judge three options with the middle term as the presumptive sentence:

Subsection (a): three, six, or eight years in state prison.
Subsection (b): five, eight, or ten years in state prison.
Subsection (c) as a felony: one, two, or three years in state prison.
Subsection (c) as a misdemeanor: up to one year in county jail.
Subsection (i): life in state prison with the possibility of parole.¹

For convictions under subsections (a) or (b), the court may add a fine of up to $10,000. The fine is discretionary and sits on top of any restitution or other financial penalties.¹

When the Sentence Jumps to Life: One Strike Enhancements

The base terms above often understate the real exposure. Under Penal Code 667.61, California’s One Strike law, both subsection (a) and subsection (b) are qualifying offenses that trigger vastly longer sentences when aggravating factors are present.

A qualifying conviction with one aggravating circumstance draws 15 years to life. With two or more, the sentence rises to 25 years to life. Aggravating circumstances listed in the statute include kidnapping, inflicting great bodily injury, committing the offense during a burglary, and having a prior qualifying sex offense conviction.

The harshest outcomes apply when the child is under 14. A defendant convicted of a qualifying offense under subdivision (c) of 667.61 against a child under 14 with one or more aggravating circumstances faces life without the possibility of parole. Even a single circumstance listed under subdivision (e), when the victim is under 14, triggers 25 years to life.²

Sex Offender Registration

Every conviction under Penal Code 288 requires sex offender registration under Penal Code 290. California places registrants into one of three tiers that dictate how long they stay on the registry.

A first-time subsection (a) conviction falls in Tier 2, which requires a minimum of 20 years on the registry. After that period, the person may petition the court to end the requirement.

Subsections (b) and (c) are Tier 3 offenses, requiring lifetime registration. A second subsection (a) conviction, if tried separately from the first, also moves the person to Tier 3. This catches people off guard with subsection (c): even when it is charged as a misdemeanor, a conviction still means being on the registry for life.³

Whether Probation Is Available

For most Penal Code 288 convictions, probation is off the table. Penal Code 1203.066 flatly prohibits probation when any of these factors apply:

The act was committed by force, threats, or intimidation.
The defendant caused physical injury to the child.
The defendant was a stranger to the child or befriended the child to commit the offense.
A weapon was involved.
The defendant has a prior qualifying sex offense conviction.
The offense involved more than one child.
The act involved substantial sexual conduct with a child under 14.

Where none of these factors are present, probation is technically possible but comes with strings attached. The court has to find that rehabilitation is feasible and that the defendant will immediately enter a recognized treatment program. When the defendant lived in the same household as the child, the court must also find that probation serves the child’s best interests, and the defendant cannot return to the household during the probation period.⁴

How Long Prosecutors Have to File Charges

For offenses committed on or after January 1, 2017, there is no statute of limitations on most Penal Code 288 charges. California’s Justice for Victims Act eliminated the time limit for prosecuting a subsection (b) conviction and for subsection (a) offenses that involve substantial sexual conduct, and the change applies retroactively to older offenses whose prior limitation period had not yet expired.

Offenses punishable by life imprisonment, including those charged under subsection (i) or enhanced under the One Strike law, also carry no time limit under Penal Code 799(a). For subsection (a) offenses that do not involve substantial sexual conduct and were committed before 2017, different limitation periods may apply. In practice, prosecutors can bring most of these charges years, and sometimes decades, after the alleged conduct.⁵

Consequences Beyond the Criminal Case

Immigration

For a noncitizen, a Penal Code 288 conviction is devastating. Federal immigration law treats sexual abuse of a minor as an aggravated felony.⁶ That designation makes the person deportable, bars most forms of relief from removal, and permanently blocks future admission to the United States. No practical immigration waiver exists for this category of offense.

Professional Licenses

Certain licenses are automatically stripped. California’s Education Code requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to immediately suspend the credential of any holder convicted of a sex offense or required to register under Penal Code 290. When a felony sex offense conviction becomes final, the credential is permanently revoked with no path to reinstatement.⁷ Licensed professionals in nursing, medicine, and law face parallel consequences through their own boards.

Defenses to a Penal Code 288 Charge

A charge is not a conviction, and several defenses come up regularly. Their strength depends on the specific facts of the case.

The most direct defense targets intent. Because the prosecution has to prove the touching was motivated by sexual desire, a defendant who can show the contact was innocent, accidental, or served a legitimate purpose such as a medical examination has not committed this crime. No amount of touching violates the statute if the sexual-intent element is missing.

False accusations are a real issue, particularly where the allegation surfaces during a custody dispute or family conflict. Defense attorneys examine inconsistencies in the accuser’s account, look for motives like financial gain or custody leverage, and consider whether third parties may have coached the child.

An alibi defense applies when the defendant was somewhere else at the time. Phone records, surveillance footage, and witness testimony can place the defendant away from the scene. Mistaken identity plays a similar role where the child does not personally know the accused.

Expert testimony often shapes the trial. Psychologists and forensic specialists may testify about false memory, the suggestibility of child witnesses, and the reliability of the interview techniques used during the investigation. The quality of the forensic interview is frequently a central battleground.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 288 – Lewd Acts with a Minor
2
California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 667.61 – One Strike Sentencing
3
California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 290 – Sex Offender Registration Act
4
California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 1203.066 – Probation Restrictions for Sex Offenses
5
California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 799 – No Limitation
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1101 – Definitions
7
California Legislative Information. California Code EDC 44425 – Credential Suspension and Revocation