People v. Merrill CA2/6

Filed 4/23/25 P. v. Merrill CA2/6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION SIX

THE PEOPLE, 2d Crim. No. B337880 (Super. Ct. No. 23CR08943) Plaintiff and Respondent, (Santa Barbara County)

v.

GLENN SHURMAN MERRILL,

Defendant and Appellant.

Glenn Shurman Merrill appeals an order denying his petition to terminate his requirement to register as a sex offender. (Pen. Code,1 § 290.5.) We conclude the trial court erred by denying the petition. We reverse. FACTS Merrill has a history of committing acts of indecent exposure. (§ 314.) In 1979, he was arrested for indecent exposure. In 1988, he was convicted of engaging in lewd conduct

1 All statutory references are to the Penal Code.

in public (§ 647, subd. (a)) and sentenced to 24 months’ probation. He was arrested for masturbating in public on Goleta Beach. On March 2, 2009, Merrill posted an advertisement on Craigslist for a caregiver. A woman went to his residence for the job. Merrill pulled off his pants and exposed his erect penis, began masturbating, and told her she needed to massage his penis. On March 17, 2009, another woman answered a Craigslist advertisement posted by Merrill. She went to his residence. He was in a wheelchair. He stood up, walked to the front door, and locked it. He exposed his erect penis, and while masturbating he told her if she wanted the job she “would have to massage his penis.” On June 1, 2009, another woman responded to the advertisement. She went to Merrill’s residence. While the woman washed his back, he told her to “get some lotion and rub [his] penis.” He grabbed his penis and began to masturbate in front of her. On July 6, 2011, another woman, 18 years old, responded to a Craigslist advertisement for a live-in caregiver. She gave Merrill a sponge bath in bed. He told her to rub oil on his penis. She began to do that, but Merrill ordered her not to stop as he got an erection. She refused and left the premises. He asked her not to contact law enforcement. When interviewed by law enforcement, Merrill stated he did not instruct her to rub his penis, and “if she did so it was because she was comfortable with the action.” Sheriff’s deputies determined that Merrill “was in violation of his [section] 290 Registration terms and had failed to register as required.” Merrill was 61 years old at that time.