Recently you obtained a tourist visa in order to visit the state of California. Two months into your visit, you were convicted of child molestation under PC 288. Will you be required to register as a sex offender under PC 290 in California?
The Sex Offender Registration Act (PC 290)
California’s Sex Offender Registration Act requires persons convicted of certain sex crimes to register as a sex offender. The sex crimes listed under California Penal Code section 290(c) are listed below:
- Murder (PC 187), kidnapping (PC 207; PC 209) and assault (PC 220), committed with the intent to commit:
- Sodomy (PC 286);
- Lewd or lascivious act with a minor (PC 288);
- Oral copulation with a minor (PC 288a);
- Sexual penetration by use of force or fear (PC 289);
- Sexual battery (PC 243.4);
- Rape (PC 261-262);
- Aiding and abetting a rape (PC 264.1);
- Pimping or pandering a minor (PC 266h; PC266i);
- Child procurement (PC 266j);
- Aggravated sexual assault of a child under 14 years of age (PC 269);
- Contributing to the delinquency of a minor with lewd or lascivious conduct (PC 272);
- Incest (PC 285);
- Sodomy (PC 286);
- Lewd or lascivious act with a minor (PC 288);
- Oral copulation (PC 288a);
- Showing obscene material to minors (PC 288.2);
- Contacting a minor with the intent to commit certain felonies (PC 288.3);
- Arranging a meeting with a minor for lewd purposes (PC 288.4);
- Continuous sexual abuse of a minor (PC 288.5);
- Engaging in sodomy with a child 10 years or younger (PC 288.7);
- Sexual penetration by force or fear (PC 289);
- Child pornography laws (PC 311.1-PC 311.11);
- Indecent exposure (PC 314);
- Annoying or molesting a child (PC 647.6);
- Solicitation to commit a sex crime (PC 653f(c));
- Any statutory predecessor that includes all elements of one of the above-mentioned offenses; AND
- Attempt or conspiracy to commit any of the above-mentioned offenses.
Since child molestation in violation of PC 288 is an enumerated offense under PC 290(c), it would appear that you would have to register as a sex offender in California. However, PC 290(b) sets out additional requirements for sex offender registration in California. This section states the following:
“Every person described in subdivision (c), for the rest of his or her life while residing in California, or while attending school or working in California, as described in Sections 290.002 and 290.01, shall be required to register…”
If you are traveling to California under the visa waiver program, your visit may not exceed 90 days. As such, you do not meet any of the sex offender registration requirements described in PC 290(b) since you are not residing in, attending school, or working in California. Therefore, you will not have to register as a sex offender in California if you are convicted of child molestation under PC 288.
Sentencing and Punishment under California Penal Code 288
If you are convicted under PC 288(a) for lewd or lascivious acts upon a child 14 years of age or younger, you will face up to 8 years in state prison and up to $10,000 in court fines. If you used force in committing the child molestation, you will face up to 10 years in state prison and up to $10,000 court fines under PC 288(b)(1).
After you serve your prison sentence, you will be forced to leave the United States for two reasons. First, your tourist visa will have expired. Second, child molestation is a deportable offense under 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43).
If you return to California to reside, attend school, or work, you will be required to register as a sex offender under California Penal Code 290(b) and 290(c).
By Attorney Paul J. Wallin, Senior Partner of Wallin & Klarich, criminal defense attorneys in Southern California.
JCS U.S. Immigration & Visa Law Office 