People v. Maguire

Opinion

COFFEE, J.

Appellant Phillip Michael Maguire was sentenced to a six-year prison term after a jury convicted him of committing a lewd act on Wendy S., a child under 14 years of age. (Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (a).)

1

The case was prosecuted under the extended statute of limitations established by section 803, subdivision (g). Appellant raises several challenges to the constitutionality of the extended limitations period, its applicability to his case, and the admission of uncharged sexual offenses to prove criminal propensity. We affirm.

[398]

Facts

Wendy S. was bom in 1980. When she was about six years old, her mother, Linda R., began dating appellant. During their relationship, appellant often stayed the night at Linda’s condominium in Santa Barbara.

Wendy sometimes had nightmares and would come into her mother’s bedroom in the middle of the night to be comforted. When Linda would get up in the morning to get ready for work, appellant would remain in bed and pull Wendy toward him in a “spooning” position. Once he held her by the shoulders and mbbed his penis against her backside until he ejaculated. Appellant also touched Wendy’s vaginal and chest area several times when they were in the swimming pool together. Wendy did not initially tell anyone that appellant had molested her, and in 1990, she and Linda moved to Texas to live with Wendy’s father.

Appellant began sharing a home with Dana C. and her two young daughters, Ciarra G. and Lindsay W. He started molesting Ciarra when she was eight years old, and continued doing so until he moved out in late 1992. Ciarra then told her mother that appellant had molested her. They contacted the police and felony charges were filed against appellant. Appellant eventually pled guilty to the continuous sexual abuse of a minor under section 288.5, and was placed on five years’ probation. Several years later, in 1997, Lindsay told her mother that appellant had molested her as well.

In the meantime, Wendy and her mother had moved back to Santa Barbara. With his probation officer’s permission, appellant moved in with Linda and resumed their relationship. When Wendy learned that appellant was moving in, she told Linda that appellant had touched in a way that made her uncomfortable. Linda seemed shocked but did not appear to believe her. Appellant lived with Linda and Wendy until 1993, and no further molestations occurred.