People v. Van Clark

The defendants were jointly charged with a violation of section 288 of the Penal Code, and a jury found each of them guilty. Their motion for a new trial and application for probation were denied, and judgment was entered referring them to the Youth Authority. They have appealed from the judgment and from the order denying their motion for a new trial.

The defendants were high school students, each being 18 years of age. The complaining witness was a 12-year-old orphan girl living with her grandmother in an apartment in Anaheim. On the evening of May 16, 1952, she left home to go to a picture…