Reno Man Extradited to California for Lewd Conduct with a Minor (CA Penal Code 288)

Law enforcement officials have been on the lookout for a 28-year-old man suspected of involvement in a child molestation case in Truckee.  For about a year, police have been attempting to bring the man (whose identity has been withheld to protect his privacy) in for questioning.  However, it seems that this particular individual has been arrested on entirely different charges in Reno, Nevada, where he is currently a resident.  Investigators with the Truckee Police Department contacted the Reno Regional Sex Offender Notification Unit and asked for their help in bringing the suspect in.  It was the U.S. Marshal’s Office, however, who arrested him in the Reno area.  He will now be extradited to California to face charges of lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor child.

California law dictates that anyone who touches a minor child for the purpose of sexual gratification commits the crime of “Lewd and Lascivious Acts with a Child” (CA Penal Code 288).  Commission of this crime does not require that an individual actually touch a child’s intimate body regions or that the child was unclothed at the time.  Thus, the above law covers touching any part of a child under the age of 14 for the purpose of sexual arousal.  If convicted, the Reno resident will face a maximum sentence of 8 years in state prison.  However, if it can be proved that he used any kind of force during the commission of this crime, his eventual sentence could be up to 10 years or 16 years if the prosecution can prove that there was a pattern of this type of behavior (3 or more times during a 3-month period).