People v. Westrope CA4/1
Opinion
Opinion
Rubin, J.
BACKGROUND
The People charged Westrope with continuous sexual abuse of
Jane Doe, a child under the age of 14 years (Pen. Code,1 § 288.5 [count one]), lewd and lascivious acts upon Jane Doe, a child under the age of 14 years (§ 288, subd. (a) [counts two and three]), and willful and unlawful annoying and molesting Jane Doe (§ 647.6 [count four]). The information additionally alleged three aggravating factors. At trial, the jury heard the following evidence. A. Continuous Sexual Abuse Westrope was married to Jane Doe’s grandmother. Starting when
Jane Doe was around five years old,2 Westrope would put his hands in her pants and massage her vagina over her underwear while she sat on his lap. This happened around 15 to 20 times and stopped when Jane Doe was 11 years old. In December 2018, Jane Doe told her brother Dylan and stepsister Paige that Westrope used to put his fingers on Jane Doe’s vagina. Dylan or Paige told Jane Doe’s stepmother what she said. A few days later, Jane Doe told her father that Westrope had been touching her vagina under her skirt, over her underwear, “all [her] life.”
Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.