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When Must a Juvenile Register as a Sex Offender?

Penal Code § 290.008 provides that a juvenile must register as a sex offender under Penal Code § 290 if three things take place: 1) the juvenile is adjudicated a ward of the juvenile court pursuant to Welfare & Institutions Code § 602; 2) the juvenile is taken into custody to the California Youth Authority (in other words, he or she is not given probation); and 3) the juvenile commits one of seventeen specified offenses.
The seventeen offenses are:
  1. Assault with intent to commit rape, sodomy, oral copulation, gang rape, lewd and lascivious acts with a child under age 14 or forcible penetration with a foreign object, Penal Code § 220(b);
  2. Acting with one or more other persons to commit rape (“gang rape”), Penal Code § 264.1;
  3. Lewd and lascivious acts with a child under age 14 (“child molestation”), Penal Code § 288;
  4. Forcible penetration with a foreign object, Penal Code § 289;
  5. Assault with intent to commit another felony;
  6. Rape of a person who is incapable of giving legal consent either due to a developmental disability or age and this known or reasonably should have been known to the perpetrator (Penal Code § 261(a)(1)); rape against another person’s will by force, violence, duress, menace or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury to that person or another (Penal Code § 261(a)(2)); rape when the person is incapable of resisting due to an intoxicating agent, or anesthetic or controlled substance and this condition was known by the accused (Penal Code § 261(a)(3)); rape of an unconscious person (Penal Code § 261(a)(4)); or rape of a person who was not aware of the act taking place (Penal Code § 261(b));
  7. Engaging in sex with another person through false pretenses to create fear and which does create such fear (Penal Code § 266c);
  8. Abducting a person under the age of 18 for purposes of prostitution (Penal Code § 267);
  9. Sodomy of a minor under age 18 (Penal Code § 286(b)(1));
  10. Sodomy of a person under age 14 and more than ten years younger than himself or herself (Penal Code § 286(c)) or sodomy in concert with another person accomplished against a person under age 14 against the victim’s will by means of force, fear or threat or immediate and unlawful bodily harm to himself or herself or another (Penal Code § 286(d));
  11. Oral copulation with a person under age 18 (Penal Code § 287(b)(1)) or oral copulation of a person under age 14 and more than ten years younger than the accused (Penal Code § 287(c)); or oral copulation of another while acting in concert with another when the oral copulation is accomplished by force, fear or threat of immediate and unlawful injury to the victim or another (Penal Code § 287(d)) [it should be noted that on January 1, 2019, Penal Code § 288a was renumbered as Penal Code § 287];
  12. Continuous sexual abuse of a child (Penal Code § 288.5);
  13. Oral copulation of a person who is under age 18 (Penal Code § 288a(b)(1)); oral copulation of a person under age 14 and more than ten years younger than the accused (Penal Code § 288a(c)) or oral copulation of another while acting in concert with another when the oral copulation is accomplished by force, fear or threat of immediate and unlawful injury to the victim or another (Penal Code § 288a(d)) [it should be noted that on January 1, 2019, Penal Code § 288a was renumbered as Penal Code § 287];
  14. Forcible penetration of another with a foreign object against that person’s will accomplished by force, violence, duress, menace or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury to that person or another (Penal Code § 289(a));
  15. Annoying or molesting a child under age 18 (Penal Code § 647.6);
  16. Kidnapping (Penal Code § 207), defined as taking the person outside the county, state or country, with the intent to commit rape, sodomy, oral copulation, lewd and lascivious acts or forcible penetration with a foreign object; and
  17. Aggravated kidnapping (Penal Code § 209), defined as taking another person for ransom or reward, with the intent to commit rape, sodomy, oral copulation, lewd and lascivious acts or forcible penetration with a foreign object.
A juvenile who is determined to be a Tier One offender under Senate Bill (SB) 384 must register for at least five years, if the offense is not a serious or violent offense under Penal Code § 667.5(c) or Penal Code § 1192.7(c), respectively, before being eligible for termination of registration.
A juvenile determined to be a Tier Two offender under SB 384 must register for at least ten years before being eligible to terminate his or her obligation to register under Penal Code § 290 if the offense is regarded as serious or violent under the aforementioned Penal Code sections.
For more information about a juvenile registering as a sex offender, please click on the following articles:
  1. What Crimes Are Strikes under the Three Strikes Law?
  2. No 290 Registration for Juvenile Who Rapes Cousin?
  3. When Can a Prior Juvenile Offense be Used as a Prior?
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