In re Taylor C.

Filed 4/16/24 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

In re Taylor C., a Person Coming Under the Juvenile Court Law. THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A168282

v. (Solano County TAYLOR C., Super. Ct. No. J37038) Defendant and Appellant.

Taylor C. (Taylor) was first declared a ward of the court when he was 14 years old. Several years later, after his wardship ended, Taylor successfully moved to dismiss his wardship petitions under Welfare and Institutions Code section 782.1 Taylor then moved to seal the related juvenile court records, but the juvenile court denied the motion on the basis that his prior adjudications for committing forcible lewd conduct (Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (b)(1)) made his records ineligible for sealing under section 781, subdivision (a)(1)(F). On appeal, Taylor contends his juvenile records were eligible for sealing because the court’s dismissal of the wardship petitions under section 782

1 All further undesignated statutory references are to the Welfare and Institutions Code.

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erased the adjudication of his forcible lewd conduct offenses as if they “never existed.” We disagree and affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND In 2006, the district attorney filed a juvenile wardship petition (§ 602) alleging Taylor, then 14 years old, committed misdemeanor sexual battery by restraint (Pen. Code, § 243.4). In 2007, he admitted the allegation. The juvenile court declared Taylor a ward of the court and placed him on probation. Later that same year, 2007, the district attorney filed another wardship petition alleging Taylor committed two counts of a forcible lewd or lascivious act on a child under the age of 14 (Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (b)(1)), in April 2007. After a contested hearing, the juvenile court sustained both allegations. The court continued Taylor as a ward and placed him on probation in a group home. Between 2009 and 2010, the probation department filed three separate wardship petitions alleging Taylor violated his probation after being terminated from three different group homes. Taylor admitted the first two allegations, and the juvenile court found true the third allegation following a contested hearing. In 2010, the juvenile court committed Taylor to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) for four years. In 2013, the juvenile court terminated DJJ jurisdiction over Taylor and placed him on probation in his mother’s custody. In 2015, Taylor’s probation terminated and his wardship ended. In 2022, DJJ granted Taylor an honorable discharge.