Roan

MEMORANDUM **

Jason Roan was convicted by a jury of multiple counts of sexual abuse of his minor step-daughter, M.T. The District Court sentenced Roan to serve a term of 264 months imprisonment. Roan appeals his conviction and sentence on the following grounds: 1) the District Court abused its discretion by allowing evidence of other acts of child molestation pursuant to Fed. R.Evid. 414, and 2) the District Court abused its discretion by imposing an unreasonable and excessive term of imprisonment in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 3553 (a). We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and we affirm.

Roan contends that M.T.’s testimony at trial that he sexually molested her when she was in the fifth grade was not admissible pursuant to Fed.R.Evid. 414 because her testimony was unreliable, and the District Court did not perform a thorough balancing inquiry pursuant to Fed. R.Evid. 403.

Under Fed.R.Evid. 414, the key to admissibility is relevance, and no independent evidence of the commission of the prior bad act is required. United States v. Norris, 428 F.3d 907, 913 (9th Cir.2005). The District Court properly concluded that M.T.’s testimony that Roan sexually molested her when…