In 2009, Cameron Thor, a Los Angeles acting coach and part-time actor sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl who came to him for acting lessons. The contact between the two began in 2008 when the victim began taking acting lessons from Thor. After one of the lessons, Thor drove the victim to a secluded location and proceeded to sexually assault her. Additional incidents of sexual assault on the victim by Thor continued for about a year.
Officially, Cameron Thor was convicted of violating California Penal Code 288 PC – lewd acts with a child. The legal description of lewd acts with a child is simply touching a child somewhere on their body for sexual purposes. Typically, the touching will be somewhere on or around their sex organs, though that isn’t always the case.
The penalties regarding PC 288 will vary pretty widely depending on the age of the child when the lewd act was committed. If the child was under 14, as Thor’s victim was, the offense is an automatic felony. The penalties for a felony conviction include formal probation and up to 1-year in county jail or 3, 6 or 8-years in California state prison.
- If the person uses force, violence or threats during the incident, the possible prison sentence increases to 5, 8 or 10-years.
- If the offender has a prior record of related convictions, he could be labeled a habitual offender and have his sentence drastically increased to 25-years to life in prison.
- If the child was under 14, the felony is considered a violent felony and a serious felony, and will serve as a strike under California’s “Three Strikes Law.”
- Last, the individual will be obligated to register as a sex offender for the rest of their life.
Thor’s conviction landed him 6-years in California state prison as well as the obligation to register as a sex offender.
