Cornett

Penal Code section 288.7 makes it a felony, punishable by an indeterminate life term, for any adult to engage in specified sexual conduct “with a child who is 10 years of age or younger.” Does the phrase “10 years of age or younger” include within its protection a child victim who is 10 years of age but has not yet reached his or her 11th birthday? Or is the phrase limited, as the majority of the Court of Appeal held, to children molested prior to the day of or on the day of their 10th birthday? We conclude that the interpretation of the statutory phrase “10 years of age or younger” includes children younger than 10 years of age and children who have reached their 10th birthday but who have not yet reached their 11th birthday. That is, “10 years of age or younger” as expressed by the Legislature in Penal Code section 288.7 is another means of saying “under 11 years of age.” We reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeal that concluded otherwise.

I.

Background

Defendant Michael David Cornett sexually molested his two stepdaughters. He was convicted of seven felony sex offenses, including one count of oral copulation of Jane Doe 1 in violation of Penal Code section…