California's "Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor" Law Serves as a "Catchall"
When you hear the phrase “contributing to the delinquency of a minor”, you probably picture an adult buying alcohol for a minor. At least, that’s what most people probably picture, as that is one of the most common violations of this law. However California’s “contributing to the delinquency of a minor” law is actually much broader. In fact, this law pretty much serves as a “catchall” for any crime that potentially affects the well-being of a child.
Buying booze for a minor, encouraging a minor to “skip” school, committing a sex offense against a minor, “sexting” a minor (that is, sending sexually explicit text messages or photos to another person via a cell phone)…the list goes on and on. And the interesting thing about this law is that is can be charged against anyone…even a minor who contributes to the delinquency of another minor.
The good news is that this offense is relatively minor…a misdemeanor that subjects you to a maximum one-year county jail sentence. The bad news is that because it is so broad, prosecutors can often obtain a conviction under this section when they don’t quite have enough evidence to convict you of a more serious, more specific charge.
