People v. Bautista-Castanon
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Bautista-Castanon digitally penetrated his four-year-old niece while babysitting. He was convicted of sexual penetration of a child who was 10 years of age or younger (Penal Code 288.7(b)) and commission of a lewd act on a child under 14 years of age (288(a)); the jury found true that Bautista-Castanon had substantial sexual conduct with the victim. The court sentenced Bautista-Castanon to 15 years to life in prison on count 1 and later issued an order sentencing Bautista-Castanon to the upper term of eight years on count 2 and staying that punishment. The court identified several aggravating factors: a high degree of cruelty and callousness; Bautista-Castanon’s position of trust; the vulnerable victim; planning, and Bautista-Castanon had expressed no remorse, and was a “significant danger to the community.” Bautista-Castanon had no prior criminal record.
Noting a stipulation by the parties, the court of appeal remanded for resentencing in light of Assembly Bill 518, effective January 1, 2022. AB 518 amended section 654 to specify that, when a sentencing court chooses a term from a statutory triad, the chosen term shall not exceed the middle term unless the facts supporting the aggravating circumstances are established by the defendant’s stipulation, proven to a jury (or to a court, if a jury is waived) beyond a reasonable doubt, or based on prior convictions evidenced by a certified record of conviction.
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