People v. Shields
Annotate this CaseShields accepted a request to become a Facebook friend with a fictional 17-year-old prostitute created by a Solano County detective. That relationship led to his arrest and convictions for human trafficking of a minor for a commercial sex act (Pen. Code 236.1(c)(1)); pandering by encouraging another person to become a prostitute (266i(a)(2)); and attempted pimping a minor over the age of 16 (664, 266h(b)(1)). The court of appeal affirmed the attempted pimping and pandering convictions but reversed and remanded the human trafficking conviction. Shields did not commit the completed offense of human trafficking of a minor because the alleged victim of this crime was not a person under the age of 18. Shields was not prejudiced by an error in instructing the jury that a mistake about the victim’s age was not a defense to the attempted pimping charge.
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