Penal Code 288.4(b): Sentence, Defenses, and Registration

California Penal Code Section 288.4(b) makes it a felony to go to a prearranged meeting place, at or about the arranged time, to meet a person you believe is a minor for a sexual purpose. A conviction carries two, three, or four years in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration.¹

How Subsection (b) Differs From Subsection (a)

Section 288.4 has two basic tiers. Subsection (a)(1) covers arranging a meeting with someone you believe is a minor, motivated by a sexual interest in children, for purposes such as exposing yourself or engaging in sexual conduct. That offense is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in county jail, a fine up to $5,000, or both.¹

Subsection (b) applies when the defendant does not just arrange the meeting but actually goes to the meeting place at or about the arranged time. That single physical step converts the offense into a felony with mandatory state prison exposure.¹ The law treats arriving at the location as a serious escalation beyond planning alone.

Subsection (c) also preserves the prosecution’s ability to file other charges. If someone shows up and then commits a sexual act against a child, additional charges under statutes like Section 288 or Section 288.7 can stack on top of the 288.4(b) count.¹

What the Prosecution Has to Prove

A conviction under 288.4(b) requires four elements.

The defendant arranged a meeting with a person they believed to be a minor. The statute applies to any believed victim under 18, not just children under 14.¹

The defendant was motivated by what the statute calls “an unnatural or abnormal sexual interest in children.” Prosecutors typically prove motivation through the content of messages, images shared, and topics discussed during the communication.

The purpose of the meeting was sexual: arranging to expose oneself, to have the child expose themselves, or to engage in sexual conduct. The planned act does not have to have actually occurred. What matters is the intended purpose.

The defendant went to the arranged meeting place at or about the arranged time. This is the element unique to subsection (b). Prosecutors do not need to show that the defendant made contact with anyone or committed any further crime once there.¹

Prison Term and Sentencing Range

A 288.4(b) conviction carries a state prison sentence of two, three, or four years.¹ The time is served in state prison, not county jail. Under California’s determinate sentencing scheme, the middle term of three years is the presumptive sentence. The court can impose the lower two-year term when mitigating factors are present, or the upper four-year term when the prosecution proves aggravating circumstances.

Factors that can push a sentence toward the upper term include a particularly young believed victim, explicit and prolonged communication showing planning, or bringing items to the meeting suggesting intent to commit further crimes. Factors supporting the lower term include no prior criminal history, documented mental health issues, or other mitigating personal circumstances.

Decoy and Sting Operations

A large share of 288.4(b) arrests come from operations in which an undercover officer or investigator poses as a minor online. The statute explicitly covers meetings arranged with “a person he or she believes to be a minor,” so the fact that no real child was involved is not a defense.¹ The defendant’s belief about the other person’s age is what the statute measures.

These cases are hard to fight on the physical-arrival element. By the time someone pulls up to the meeting location, law enforcement typically has the full message history, GPS or cell-site records, and often video of the person approaching the arranged spot.

Possible Defenses

Defense strategies in 288.4(b) cases usually fall into a handful of categories.

Entrapment. California uses a subjective test: the question is whether police conduct would have induced a normally law-abiding person to commit the offense. Simply providing an opportunity is not entrapment. An officer posing as a minor and responding to messages does not, by itself, cross the line. The defense works only where police pressure or persuasion went beyond that.
No sexual motivation. The statute requires motivation by a sexual interest in children. If the communications are genuinely ambiguous and the meeting was arranged for a non-sexual reason, the charge fails. In practice, message histories often undercut this argument.
Did not go to the meeting place. Subsection (b) requires actual arrival at or near the arranged location at approximately the arranged time. If the defendant turned around, went somewhere else, or never left home, the (b) charge may not hold, though the (a)(1) misdemeanor charge for arranging could still apply.
No belief the person was a minor. If the defendant genuinely believed the other person was an adult, the required mental state is missing. Sting operations are usually scripted to make the purported age unambiguous in the message exchange, which narrows this defense considerably.

Mandatory Sex Offender Registration

Any conviction under Section 288.4 triggers mandatory sex offender registration under Penal Code Section 290.² Since 2021, California has used a three-tier system established by Senate Bill 384, with minimum registration periods of 10 years (Tier 1), 20 years (Tier 2), and lifetime (Tier 3).³

Section 288.4 convictions fall under Tier 3. That means lifetime registration. A Tier 3 registrant whose designation is based solely on risk level may petition for relief after 20 years, but those placed in Tier 3 because of the conviction offense itself face registration for life unless the law changes.⁴

Registration begins upon release from custody. The registrant must provide fingerprints, photographs, and current residence information to the police chief or county sheriff where they live, and must update that information annually within five working days of their birthday.² Willfully failing to comply with registration is a separate felony punishable by 16 months, two years, or three years in state prison when the underlying conviction was a felony.⁵

Life After the Sentence

The prison term and registration are only part of the picture. A 288.4(b) conviction creates obstacles that follow a person through nearly every aspect of daily life.

Employment. Sex offender registration appears on background checks. Many professional licenses in education, healthcare, childcare, and law enforcement are automatically revoked or denied, and standard employer background screenings make even unlicensed work hard to secure.
Housing. Many jurisdictions impose residency restrictions preventing registered sex offenders from living within a specified distance of schools, parks, or daycare centers, commonly from 500 to 2,000 feet. In some areas, these buffer zones effectively eliminate most available housing.
Custody and family law. Family courts treat a 288.4 conviction as strong evidence against unsupervised contact with children, including the defendant’s own.
Federal supervised release. If federal charges are also filed, supervised release conditions typically prohibit direct contact with any child under 18 without probation officer permission. Direct contact covers written communication, in-person interaction, and physical contact, with an exception for incidental public encounters during ordinary daily activities.⁶

For noncitizens, consequences extend further. Sex offenses involving minors are generally treated as crimes involving moral turpitude under federal immigration law, which can trigger deportation for lawful permanent residents and make noncitizens inadmissible. Under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, a U.S. citizen or permanent resident convicted of a sexual offense or solicitation involving a minor may also be barred from filing a family-based immigration petition for a close relative.⁷ A conviction can also bar the good moral character finding required for naturalization.

For most people convicted under 288.4(b), the time in state prison turns out to be the shorter part of the punishment.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 288.4 – Arranging Meeting with Minor for Certain Purposes
2
California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 290 – Sex Offender Registration Act
3
California Department of Justice. California Sex Offender Registry – Frequently Asked Questions
4
California Courts. PC 290 Registration Relief
5
California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 290.018
6
United States Courts. Chapter 3: Association and Contact Restrictions – Probation and Supervised Release Conditions
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Conditional Bars for Acts in Statutory Period