Los Angeles Criminal Defense

Defending Lewd or Lascivious Cases in Southern California

Criminal Law defines Lewd Conduct in California Penal Code section 647(a) - aside from prostitution and solicitation of prostitution Penal Code Section 647 makes other forms of disorderly conduct illegal.

Soliciting or engaging in lewd or dissolute conduct in a public place or in a place open to the public or exposed to public view is a misdemeanor in California.

Criminal attorneys must know "lewd or dissolute conduct" involves touching of genitals, buttocks, or female breasts, for purposes of sexual arousal, gratification, annoyance or offense.

The District Attorney or City Attorney must prove beyond a reasonable doubt you knew or reasonably should have known that another person was likely to be present who could be offended by the conduct.

Criminal Law: Lewd or Lascivious Act on Child Under 14:

A lewd or lascivious act under Penal Code Section 288 is committed when:

(1) A person willfully and lewdly commits any lewd or lascivious act, including offenses defined in Part One of the Penal Code;

(2) The person commits the act on or with the body or any part of the body of a child less than 14 years old; and

(3) The person commits the act with the intent of arousing, appealing to, or gratifying the lust or passions or sexual desires of that person or of the child.

If convicted, the District Attorney has the choice to ask for a sentence or punishment as follows:

Imprisonment in the state prison for three, six, or eight years, and a $10,000 fine.

Criminal Law: Forcible Lewd or Lascivious Act on Child Under 14:

It is an offense for a defendant to commit a lewd or lascivious act on a child under 14, as described above, by use of force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury on the victim or another person.

If convicted, the District Attorney has the choice to ask for a sentence or punishment as follows:

Imprisonment in the state prison for three, six, or eight years and a $10,000 fine.

Criminal Law: Lewd or Lascivious Act on Child Aged 14 or 15:

It is an offense for a defendant who is at least 10 years older than a child aged 14 or 15 years to commit a lewd or lascivious act on the child, as described above.

If convicted, the District Attorney has the choice to ask for a sentence or punishment as follows:

This offense is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for one, two, or three years, or by one year in county jail.

The District Attorney must prove age difference between the defendant and the child. This is measured from the birth date of the defendant to the birth date of the child.

Criminal Law: Lewd or Lascivious Act on Dependent Person

Any person who is a caretaker and commits a lewd or lascivious act, as described above, with the intent described above, on a dependent person is guilty of a felony or a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for one, two, or three years, or by imprisonment in the county jail for one year.

Criminal Law: Forcible Lewd or Lascivious Act on Dependent Person.

Any person who is a caretaker and commits a lewd or lascivious act, as described above, on a dependent person by use of force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury on the dependent persons or another person, with the intent described is guilty of a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for three, six, or eight years.

Criminal Defense Attorney Orange County

Registration as Sex Offender

The District Attorney will require a person who is convicted of a lewd act on a child or dependent person to register as a sex offender.

Nothing can ruin your reputation like a sex allegation. If you have been accused of this type of activity, contact the criminal defense attorneys with over 80 years of combined experience to represent you.