People v. Donovan CA4/2

INTRODUCTION

Arguing that the many instances of sexual molestation of his stepdaughter over a

period of years constitute, and should have been charged as, a single violation of Penal

Code section 288.5,1 defendant Luis Fernando O‟Donovan seeks reversal of four of his

eight felony sex offense convictions. The People maintain that the offenses were

properly charged and the separate convictions should stand. We agree with the People

and will affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Defendant began living with Jane Doe‟s mother in 1995, when Doe was four years

old.2 After they married, in 1996, defendant and Doe‟s mother had two sons together.

For the first few years of their 12-year marriage defendant treated Doe well, and she

came to trust him as a father.

When she was about eight, defendant began to show Doe pornographic videos,

warning her not to tell her mother because, he said, her mother would not believe her and

would not love her any more. Doe believed defendant. Defendant also told Doe that if

she told anyone, he would hurt her little brothers and they would have to grow up without

a father, like she had. Because she had seen defendant hurt the boys before, Doe…