In Re Bernardino S.

Appellant Bernardino S. was charged in a petition under Welfare and Institutions Code section 602 with performing a lewd and lascivious act upon a child under the age of 14. Appellant admitted the allegations and was adjudged a ward of the court. The court ordered him, among other things, to register as a sex offender under Penal Code section 290. He contends that section 290 was inapplicable to him by its terms, that the court lacked the power to require him to register, and that even if the court had some discretion in that regard its discretion was abused here. We agree with the first and second contentions and strike the registration requirement on that basis, without reaching the third contention.

Background

The petition charged appellant with conduct proscribed by Penal Code section 288, subdivision (b), i.e., a lewd and lascivious act, by means of force or fear, upon a child under the age of 14. The petition alleged that the conduct took place in 1985, when appellant would have been 17 or 18 years old. According to reports by the probation officer, the victim stated that in 1985, appellant locked her in a bedroom, undressed her, and attempted to penetrate her. He…