People v. Silva CA4/2

BACKGROUND

In June 2020, when he was almost 21 years old, defendant was charged with

committing a lewd act days earlier upon a child under age 14. (Pen. Code, § 288,

subd. (a).) In November 2022, the charge was dismissed pursuant to plea terms under

which defendant entered a guilty plea to coercing the victim to engage in a sexual act by

means of fraud meant to instill fear. (Pen. Code, § 266c.) The terms of the plea

agreement included a grant of formal probation (24 months), provided that defendant

served a six-month jail sentence and abided by his probation terms and conditions. In

accepting the plea agreement, the bench officer noted the court did so “because of the

fragile nature of the victim in this case.” A psychological evaluation indicated that

2 defendant posed an average risk of sexual offense recidivism, based on Static-99R

testing.

The probation report for defendant’s probation/sentencing hearing described the

circumstances of the offense as reflected in defendant’s arrest report, as follows. The

victim told her father that defendant raped her the evening she ran away from home, after

she reactivated a social media account (SnapChat) earlier in the…