Branch

Euel Branch (appellant) was convicted by a jury of two sexual offenses: (1) committing a lewd and lascivious act upon a child under the age of 14; and (2) using a foreign object to penetrate the genital opening of a child under the age of 14 who was more than 10 years younger than the perpetrator. For both offenses, appellant’s victim was Sarah G. An allegation that appellant had had substantial sexual conduct with Sarah was also found true. Appellant was sentenced to the low term of three years for the first offense; a three-year term for the second offense was ordered stayed pursuant to Penal Code section 654.

Appellant advances several arguments in support of a single appellate claim—that the trial court erred in admitting evidence of a series of uncharged prior sexual offenses committed more than 30 years prior to the offenses involving Sarah. We affirm.

I. Facts

A. Prosecution case

1. Current offenses

Sarah, who was bom in 1985, was the first witness for the prosecution. Sarah has lived with her grandmother, Barbara, since she was eight months old. In December 1996, Barbara, Sarah and Sarah’s sister, Molly C., moved to appellant’s home in Fremont. They moved…