California Has Increased Punishment for a Wide Range of Sex Offenses

Effective September 9, 2010, the former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law the Chelsea King Child Predator Prevention Act, otherwise known as “Chelsea’s Law,” which significantly increased punishment for various sex offenses. Under the new law, certain factors, such as the age range of the victim or the use of force or violence, dramatically enhance penalties for designated sex crimes committed against minors and adults. Offenses affected by this law include rape, sodomy, oral copulation, lewd act, sexual penetration, and human trafficking.

For example, under the previous law, a person who committed any lewd or lascivious act upon a child less than 14 years of age by use of force or fear was punished by imprisonment for up to 8 years in state prison. Now, however, the maximum punishment has been increased to 10 years in state prison. In a similar manner, the law has increased the maximum prescribed punishment for committing rape, sodomy, or oral copulation upon the minor for up to 11 years in state prison. But, when the minor is under 14 years of age at the time of the commission of any of these crimes, the perpetrator may be sentenced for up to 13 years in state prison.

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Chelsea’s Law has also established a special category of offenses for which a person may now be sentenced to life with the possibility of parole. When an individual is convicted of a lewd or lascivious act upon a child less than 14 years of age, the law now provides for the imprisonment in state prison for life with the possibility of parole if the defendant personally inflicted bodily harm or injury upon the victim during the commission of the crime. In addition, several specified crimes committed against minors with the requisite major or minor circumstances may result in imprisonment for life without parole for perpetrators over the age of 18 or imprisonment for 25 years to life for perpetrators under the age of 18. The law also provides that a person released on parole for specified sex offenses, who enters into a park where children regularly gather without the express permission from a parole agent, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

This office handles all types of matters related to sex crimes in San Diego County. For a free consultation, contact us at (619) 232-5122 or: info@attorneylombardo.com.

For more information on sex crimes, see the following:
Sex Crimes

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Domenic Lombardo

Domenic J. Lombardo, Attorney at Law and a member of California Attorneys for Criminal Justice (CACJ), graduated from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), earning a B.A. in Economics-Business, before graduating with his J.D. from University of California, Hastings School of Law. Mr. Lombardo has been practicing as a criminal defense lawyer in San Diego for nearly 30 years, having started at the San Diego Office of the Public Defender in 1991 and then opened the Law Office of Domenic J. Lombardo in early 1996 as a sole practitioner. His practice is dedicated entirely to the defense of individuals accused of crimes and university misconduct, including Title IX allegations. While Mr. Lombardo works as the primary attorney for all his cases, he does have a team of investigators, forensic consultants, and paralegals to call on to help achieve the best possible result in every case. When he is not working, Mr. Lombardo is a family man, triathlete, and world traveler.

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