What these charges actually require.
Sex offences in California cover a very wide range, from a misdemeanour that carries no registration at all through to charges carrying life exposure. What they have in common is that the consequence people fear most is usually not the sentence. It is the registration obligation under Penal Code 290, which attaches to the conviction and operates for years or for life depending on the tier.
That changes the shape of the defence. In most areas of criminal law the negotiation is about custody. Here, a resolution to a charge that does not require registration can matter more than a shorter sentence on one that does, and the two do not always move together.
The other feature of these cases is that they are frequently built without any physical evidence at all. What is being tested is an account: when it was first given, what was said then, how it has developed since, and what the surrounding messages and records actually show. That work is careful and slow, and it starts long before any court date.
Sex offence charges I defend.
These are the charges I defend across California. Whether a given offence carries a registration obligation, and at which tier, is one of the first things worth establishing.
Misdemeanour and wobbler offences
- Indecent exposure (Penal Code 314). A misdemeanour on a first offence, but one that carries a registration obligation, which makes it far more serious than its sentence suggests.
- Sexual battery (Penal Code 243.4). A wobbler covering touching for sexual purposes, with the felony form turning on restraint or incapacity. Amended in 2024.
- Lewd conduct and solicitation (Penal Code 647). Misdemeanour offences in public places, most of which do not carry registration. Amended in 2024.
- Unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor (Penal Code 261.5). Charged on age alone. Consent is not a defence, and the age gap determines how it can be filed.
- Contact with a minor for a sexual offence (Penal Code 288.3). Frequently charged from online communications and sting operations, where the intent element is the contested question.
Serious felony offences
- Rape (Penal Code 261). Turns on the absence of consent and on the specific circumstance charged. Amended in 2024.
- Sodomy (Penal Code 286). Charged under a range of circumstances, with the exposure varying enormously between them.
- Oral copulation (Penal Code 287). Renumbered from the former section 288a, so older references and current ones do not match.
- Forcible penetration (Penal Code 289). Carries exposure comparable to the most serious offences in this category.
- Lewd acts with a child (Penal Code 288). Among the most serious charges in California law, with life exposure in some subsections.
- Possession of child pornography (Penal Code 311.11). Frequently arises from a forensic examination of a device rather than from any complainant. Amended in 2024.
Registration and related obligations
Registration is not a sentence. It is a separate consequence attached to the conviction, and it is frequently the reason a case resolves the way it does.
- Sex offender registration (Penal Code 290). The tiered obligation. Which tier applies is determined by the conviction, and it is the single most important thing in most of these cases. Amended in 2024.
- Assault with intent to commit a felony (Penal Code 220). The intent element is what is charged, and it is proved by inference.
- Record relief and relief from registration (Penal Code 1203.4). What is available after a case is over, and what is not.
Charges often filed alongside
- False imprisonment (Penal Code 236). Commonly filed alongside where restraint is alleged.
- Criminal threats (Penal Code 422). Added where messages sent afterwards are characterised as threatening. Amended in 2025.
- Witness or victim intimidation (Penal Code 136.1). Charged where there has been contact with the complainant after the allegation, which is why that contact must stop immediately. Amended in 2025.
- Domestic violence offences (Penal Code 273.5). Where the parties are in a listed relationship, both sets of charges often appear together.
If you have been contacted by an investigator but not arrested, that is the most useful moment to call. A great deal of what these cases are built from is gathered in exactly that period, and once it exists it cannot be removed.
Registration and what else it costs.
The sentence is often not the consequence that matters most here.
- Registration. A tiered obligation under Penal Code 290, running for a minimum of ten or twenty years or for life depending on the conviction. It attaches to the conviction, not to the sentence.
- Where you can live. Registration carries residence and reporting requirements that restrict housing in practical terms, quite apart from the law.
- Custody. From no custody at all through to life terms, depending entirely on the count charged.
- Your employment. Any role involving contact with children or vulnerable adults becomes closed, and professional licensing boards act independently of the court.
- Immigration. Most offences in this category are aggravated felonies or crimes involving moral turpitude, with consequences that do not depend on the sentence.
- Family court. An allegation alone can affect custody and visitation immediately, on a different standard and a faster timetable than the criminal case.
Establishing which of these actually applies to the count charged is the first useful piece of work, and it frequently changes what a good outcome looks like.
Why the early stage decides these cases.
What the resolution is called matters more than its length
Because registration attaches to particular convictions, a resolution to a non-registerable offence can be worth far more than a shorter sentence on a registerable one. That is not obvious from the outside, and it is the single biggest reason these cases need someone who works on them regularly.
Most of the evidence is created after the allegation
Pretext calls, text messages and social media exchanges obtained after a complaint is made are often the bulk of the file. They are also the part a person under investigation still has control over, right up until the moment they respond.
Accounts have a history worth examining
When an allegation was first made, to whom, in what words, and how it has changed since are all discoverable. So are the records around it. Careful reconstruction of that timeline is frequently the defence, and it is not work that can be done quickly at the courthouse.
What experience with these cases actually changes
It is knowing which offences carry which registration tier, which forensic evidence is genuinely contestable, and how these cases are actually negotiated rather than how they are described. I have been doing this since 1999.
There is no version of a sex offence charge that is sensible to face alone. The registration consequence is permanent in a way that a sentence is not, and it turns on distinctions between offences that are not visible without knowing them. What is worth discussing is what representation involves and what it costs. Call me and I will tell you both honestly.
How I defend these cases.
- Immediate intervention — dealing with investigators directly, and stopping the contact that these cases are so often built from.
- Establishing the registration question — which counts carry an obligation and at which tier, because that frames every decision that follows.
- Testing the case — the timeline of the account, the surrounding records, the forensic examination of any device, and whether each element is actually supported.
- Independent investigation — witnesses, messages and records that the prosecution has not gathered because it had no reason to look.
- Negotiation — with the registration consequence treated as the thing that matters most, not the sentence.
- Personal attention — you work with us directly, and these conversations stay privileged.
I have been licensed to practise in California since 1999, State Bar number 203402, and I defend these cases across nine Northern California counties from offices in Sacramento and Roseville. If you have been contacted but not arrested, that is the call to make first.
Where I handle these cases.
I appear in the criminal courts of all nine counties below. The court that hears your case is set by where the alleged offence occurred.
Sacramento County Placer County Yolo County El Dorado County San Joaquin County Butte County Yuba County Solano County Sutter County
Where a city has enough demand for this charge to warrant its own page, I have written one:
Questions I hear most.
Does every sex offence conviction require registration?
No. Registration under Penal Code 290 applies to listed offences, and California operates a tiered system with minimum periods of ten years, twenty years or life depending on the conviction. Some offences in this area carry no registration at all. Which tier applies is determined by what the case resolves to, which is why that question drives the whole defence.
I have been contacted by a detective but not arrested. What should I do?
Decline the interview and call a lawyer. That period is when most of the evidence in these cases is gathered, including recorded calls made with the complainant's cooperation. Declining to be interviewed is not an admission and cannot be used as one. Anything said in that conversation can be.
Can I contact the complainant to clear it up?
No. It is the single most damaging thing available to do. Contact after an allegation supports a charge under Penal Code 136.1 for witness intimidation, it is treated as consciousness of guilt regardless of what was said, and it is recorded. If there is a protective order, contact also violates it independently.
Can these charges be filed with no physical evidence?
Yes, and they frequently are. An account alone can support a charge, and in many of these cases there is no forensic evidence of any kind. That does not make the case weak or strong by itself; it means the defence is built around the account, its history and the surrounding records rather than around physical proof.
Is consent a defence to a charge involving someone under 18?
Not to a charge under Penal Code 261.5, which is based on age alone. The age difference between the parties affects how the offence can be charged and what the exposure is, but it does not make consent a defence. This surprises people regularly, particularly where both parties are young.
Can registration ever be ended?
Under the tiered system, petitions for termination are available once the minimum period for the tier has been completed and the statutory requirements are met. It is not automatic and it is not available to everyone. See record relief for what else is available after a case is over.
What does defending a sex offence case cost?
It depends on the counts, whether registration is in play, whether forensic examination of devices is involved, and whether the case is likely to be tried. Call and I will tell you what representation in your situation would cost before you commit to anything.
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