Shields

*1244 I. INTRODUCTION

Shawn Shields (appellant) became the subject of a police investigation after he accepted a request to become a friend on Facebook with a fictional 17-year-old prostitute created by a Solano County detective. The relationship appellant formed with this fictional person led to his arrest and conviction by a jury of three felony offenses: human trafficking of a minor for a commercial sex act ( Pen. Code, § 236.1, subd. (c)(1) ) 1 ; pandering by encouraging another person to become a prostitute *703 (§ 266i, subd. (a)(2)); and attempted pimping a minor over the age of 16 (§§ 664, 266h, subd. (b)(1)).

Appellant seeks reversal of his conviction for human trafficking of a minor on two related grounds. First, he contends that section 236.1, subdivision (c) ( section 236.1(c) ) is unconstitutional because it punishes an attempt to commit a crime without requiring proof of specific intent to commit the crime. Second, appellant contends that the trial court committed prejudicial error by instructing the jury at his trial that a defendant's mistake about the age of his victim is not a defense to human trafficking of a minor. Although we reject these contentions, we…