People v. Andorfer CA1/1

I. BACKGROUND

In 2015, Andorfer, then 51 years old, sent sexual messages to a 15-year- old girl via social media and text. Andorfer arranged to meet the girl; when he arrived at the meeting place, he was arrested. A jury convicted Andorfer of meeting a minor for lewd purposes (§ 288.4, subd. (b)) and contacting a minor for a sexual offense (§ 288.3, subd. (a)). The trial court sentenced him to three years in prison, which he had already served, and imposed lifetime sex offender registration pursuant to section 290.

II. DISCUSSION

Andorfer’s sole claim on appeal is that mandatory lifetime sex offender registration for convictions pursuant to sections 288.3 and 288.4 violates his equal protection rights under the federal and state Constitutions when compared to a minimum term registration period imposed on offenders convicted pursuant to section 288(a). As we explain below, we disagree. A. Pertinent Offenses and Sex Offender Registration Requirements To place the issues in context, we begin by describing the statutes codifying the relevant offenses and imposing sex offender registration mandates. Section 288.3, subdivision (a) makes it a felony to contact, or attempt to contact,…