People v. Perkins CA3

BACKGROUND

On January 30, 2023, two children spoke with a police deputy concerning an incident that had occurred six months prior. The children told the deputy that Perkins was caring for them and their four-year-old brother while their mother was out on an errand. Perkins entered a room where all three children were on a bed. He exposed his genitals to one of the children and demanded that she touch him. The child refused. Shortly thereafter, one of the children saw Perkins on his hands and knees with his pants down in the living room having sexual intercourse with the family’s pit bull. The child quickly exited the apartment. One of the children also informed a victim services advocate of an incident two years prior where Perkins had rubbed the child’s thigh. The child pointed a BB gun at Perkins and told him to stop. Perkins was charged with committing a lewd act upon a child (§ 288, subd. (a)— count I), attempting to commit a lewd act upon a child (§ 664/288, subd. (a)—count II), and sexual contact with an animal (§ 286.5, subd. (a)—count III). Perkins pled no contest to counts I and III in exchange for a grant of probation and the dismissal of count II. The trial court made…