In what circumstances will a defendant be found guilty of a violation of section 647a of the California Penal Code?

In People v. Carskaddon (1959) 170 Cal.App.2d 45, 338 P.2d 201, the court held that Penal Code section 647a, subdivision (1), was violated by a defendant's actions of walking along the street with a 17-year-old girl, who was a stranger to him, and asking her extremely lewd and obscene questions with respect to whether she had ever had certain unnatural acts performed upon her. In the case at bench the words used by defendant toward the victim Peter were unmistakably lewd and obscene and hence constituted conduct which would "annoy or molest" the 13-year-old victim within the meaning of Penal Code section 647a. Thus, there was no bar to defendant's conviction of a violation of Penal Code section 647a, even though defendant's conduct did not constitute a violation of Penal Code sections 664 and 288 as charged in count II of the information.

[79 Cal.App.3d 186]