People v. Montiel

After he molested his niece, Montiel was convicted of sexual penetration of a child 10 years of age or younger and of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years old and was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. The court of appeal affirmed, rejecting arguments based defense counsel’s failure to object to expert testimony on Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome that bolstered the victim’s credibility and that the trial court erred by admitting evidence of an uncharged sex offense he committed against the same victim. The court upheld an award to the victim’s mother of restitution for noneconomic losses, and imposition of victim restitution even though the sentence for the conviction on which it was based was stayed. The trial court was authorized to award restitution to the victim’s mother based on the mother’s own psychological harm. View "People v. Montiel" on Justia Law