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In re Kyle O.9/27/2005
3d 237, 796 N.E.2d 670, 277 Ill. Dec. 584 (2003), a 16-year-old boy was adjudicated for exposing his penis to a 6-year-old girl and having her touch his penis. The boy admitted exposing his penis to the girl, but he denied that the girl touched his penis, voluntarily or otherwise. On appeal, the In re Donald R. court concluded that a fact finder reasonably could have inferred from the circumstantial evidence that the minor boy had the required state of mind. The In re Matthew K. court stated that In re A.J.H. and In re E.R.E. had greater applicability because the 16-year-old minor in In re Donald R. was significantly closer to adulthood than the offenders in In re A.J.H. and In re E.R.E. The In re Matthew K. court further stated:
n inference of sexual gratification was reasonable in Donald R., while the same inference, without any evidence of intent, is unreasonable here. As our analysis of these cases implies, the issue of intent of sexual gratification in minors must be determined on a case-by-case basis. There can be no bright-line test. The fact finder must consider all of the evidence, including the offender's age and maturity, before deciding whether intent can be inferred.
In re Matthew K., 355 Ill. App. 3d 652, 656-57, 823 N.E.2d 252, 256, 291 Ill. Dec. 242, 246 (2005).
Similarly, the Court of Appeals of North Carolina has stated:
e hold that without some evidence of the child's maturity, intent, experience, or other factor indicating his purpose in acting, sexual ambitions must not be assigned to a child's actions. Adults can and should be presumed to know the nature and consequences of their acts; this is not always the case with children. . . .
We are not asked to and do not hold that a nine year old is incapable of acting for the purpose of arousing or gratifying his sexual desires. We have no evidence on this question. We do not believe, however, that the State may rest on an allegation of the act alone between, for example, a four year old and a one year old, to infer sexual purpose. We hold that the element "for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire" may not be inferred solely from the act itself under [the "Indecent liberties between children" statute].
In re T.S., 133 N.C. App. 272, 277, 515 S.E.2d 230, 233 (1999).
With regard to the age factor, a California appellate court reasoned in In re Jerry M., 59 Cal. App. 4th 289, 69 Cal. Rptr. 2d 148 (1997), that the closer a minor approaches the age of 14, the more likely the minor understands the wrongfulness of his or her acts. In addition to the factor of the defendant's age, that court stated:
Circumstances which have been considered relevant to proving intent to satisfy sexual desires include: the charged act, extra-judicial statements, the relationship of the parties, other acts of lewd conduct, coercion or deceit used to obtain the victim's cooperation, attempts to avoid detection, offering of a reward for cooperation, a stealthy approach to the victim, admonishment of the victim not to disclose the occurrence, physical evidence of sexual arousal and clandestine meetings.
Id. at 299, 69 Cal. Rptr. 2d at 153.
In concluding that the prosecution failed to sustain its burden of proof, the In re Jerry M. court was persuaded by many factors, including: The defendant was 11 years old, there was no evidence that the defendant had reached puberty, there was no evidence that the defendant was sexually aroused, each of the minor victims knew the defendant, the conduct occurred in public during the daytime and in the presence of others, there was no attempt to prolong the touching beyond the initial momentary
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