Dеfendant, Freddie Rogers, was arrested and charged in an information in the circuit court of Cook County with the offense of child abduction, in violation of section 10 — 5(b)(10) of the Criminal Code of 1961 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 10 — 5(b)(10)). The information alleged that he intentionally lured two children, without their
On August 18, 1987, defendant was arrested for violation of section 10 — 5(b)(10) of the Criminal Code (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 10 — 5(b)(10)), which states, in relevant part, that a person commits child abduction when he:
“Intentionally lures or attempts to lure a child under the age of 16 into a motor vehicle without the consent of the parent or lawful custodian of the child for other than a lawful purpose.
For the purposes of this subsection (b), paragraph (10), the luring or attempted luring of a child under the age of 16 into a motor vehicle without the consent of the parent or lawful custodian of the child shall be prima facie evidence of other than a lawful purpose.”
Section 10 — 5(c)(4) provides that it shall be an affirmative defense if the defendant shows that he “lured or attempted to lure a child under the age of 16 into a motor vehicle for a lawful purpose.” Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 10 — 5(с)(4).
The trial court held a preliminary hearing on August 21, 1987, to determine whether there was probable cause to pursue the criminal charges. The evidence presented at the hearing was that at approximately 8 p.m. on August 18, defendant approached K.M. at a game room in downtown Chicago. K.M. was 14 years old at the time. Defendant asked if he and his 13-year-old friend, A.B., would help him unload some newspaрers which were in a nearby alley. The boys agreed and they went with defendant in his car to the alley. During the ride, the defendant offered to pay each of them $5 for their help. After reaching the alley, defendant parked his car and left to look for his partner. Shortly afterwards, he returned and said that they had to wait for a few minutes. At this time, A.B. was in the front seat and next to the door, K.M. was next to him, and the defendant was in the driver’s seat. While waiting, defendant told the boys that he was going to move their seat back. In his attempt to do so, his hand touched A.B. in his “private parts.” In response, A.B. pushed the defendant’s hand away. The defendant then claimed he wanted to fix the seat belt and while doing so, he briefly placed his elbow
Officer Paoletti testified that he had seen the defendant’s parked car in the alley and had been wаtching it through binoculars for approximately five minutes. The officer observed the youths exit the car and run towards him. Paoletti arrested the defendant after the boys told him that defendant had just molested them. Testimony was also presented from- a parent of each child that neither parent knew the defendant nor did they give their child permission to enter his car.
After the hearing, the trial court found that there existed probable cause to press criminal charges. On September 4, 1987, the State’s Attorney filed a two-count information against the defendant. Count I stated:
“[Defendant] intentionally lured [K.M.], a child under the age of 16 years, without the consent of the parent of said child for an unlawful purpose, to wit: to commit the offense of criminal sexual abuse ***.’’
Count II charged defendant with the same offense and named A.B. as the victim. In June 1988, defendant filed a motion to dismiss, claiming that section 10 — 5(b)(10) was unconstitutional. He argued that one element of the crime is that the child was lured into the vehicle for other than a lawful purpose. However, the statute declares that if a person under 16 years of age is lured into a vehicle without parental consent, it is prima facie evidence of other than a lawful purpose. The defendant argues that this presumption scheme and burden-shifting
The State appealed to this court, after its motion to reconsider was denied. The State first argues that the defendant does not have standing to challenge the statute based on an application of the presumption of an unlawful purpose because the State did not rely on any such presumption. Rather, the information specifically alleged an unlawful purpose, criminal sexual abuse, which is a crime specifically defined in section 12 — 15 of the Criminal Code (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 12 — 15). In the probable cause hearing the State presented evidence as proof of that crime. Thus, the defendant was charged with and the State was bound to prove a particular unlawful purpose. The State also argues that the statute merely shifts a slight burden of production onto the defendant and that such a statutory scheme has been held valid by a number of decisions. People v. Embry (1988),
The defendant responds that standing has been granted in similar situations. (People v. Ziltz (1983),
The majority of cases addressing the constitutionality of presumptions deal with jury instructions, most of which were based on a statute, thus allowing the court to apply the law to a factual context. (See Carella v. California (1989),
A fundamental principle of constitutional law is that a court will ordinarily inquire into the constitutionality of a statute only to the extent required by the case before it, and will not formulate a rule broader than that necessitated by the precise situation in questiоn. (Grasse v. Dealer’s Transport Co. (1952),
A number of similar cases have applied the above principles and held that the defendant does not have standing. The defendants in City of Chicаgo v. Lawrence (1969),
“Even if a construction could be given which would render it void because of such an absence, defendants are in no position to raise the question. It is an established rule that courts will not entertain objections to an allegedly unconstitutional feature where the objecting party is not in any way aggrieved thereby. *** In the case at bar there was nothing inadvertent or unknowing about defendants’ interference. It is clear that they acted with full scienter, the officer having in fact advised them of his assignment when he first spoke to them. *** They are not in a position to raise a constitutional question based on lack of scienter.”42 Ill. 2d at 464-65 .
In People v. Bombacino (1972),
“The gist of the contention is that this section grants appellate powers to the chief judge of the circuit to review the decision of another judge of the same court. However, in the present casе the judge presiding in the juvenile division did not object to the removal of the action and the matter was therefore not referred to the chief judge of the circuit court for decision and disposition as provided for in the statute. The defendant therefore lacks standing to challenge the constitutionality of this provision of the statute because the same is not involved in this case and the defendant was nоt in any way aggrieved by this provision which he now claims to be unconstitutional. One who would attack a statute as unconstitutional must bring himself within the class as to whom the law is unconstitutional.”51 Ill. 2d at 19-20 .
A statute in People v. Diekmann (1918),
Defendant, however, argues that in People v. Mayberry (1976),
In holding that the defendants had standing to make a challenge based on the two classifications, we reviewed the indictments and found that one defendant “was not indicted for the delivery of cannabis but for the delivery of a ‘substance containing’ cannabis,” and the other indictment was not “for the delivery of controlled substances but for the delivery of ‘substances containing’ controlled substances. Thus, to prove the offenses alleged, the State had no burden to prove the quantity of the pure cannabis or pure controlled substances involved.” (Mayberry,
“(a) A person shall not drive or be in actual physical control of any vehicle within this State while:
1. The alcohol concentration in such person’s blood or breath is 0.10 or more based on the definition of blood and breath units in Section 11 — 501.2.” (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1981, ch. 95½, par. 11 — 501(a)(1).)
The trial court held the statute unconstitutional because it created a mandatory presumption of guilt on the part of the defendant and shifted the burden of persuasion to the defendant to establish innocence. On appeal, the State argued defendant had no standing to challenge the constitutionality of the statute because he was not prosecuted under the presumptions of blood-alcohol levels in section IT — 501.2(b). We held that, while there was in fact no presumption involved in the crime with which dеfendant was charged and the section the State alluded to was not applicable to the defendant, defendant had standing to contest the constitutionality of the statute he had been charged with violating. Our opinion today is consistent with this principle in Ziltz in that we hold the defendant may only contest the statutory provision as it is being applied to him, and as applied to him the presumption is not involved.
The dеfendant also challenges the statute on a number of due process grounds. He contends that the statute is overbroad because it makes an “attempt to lure” punishable the same as a completed act. The defendant, however, was not charged with attempt; he was charged with the completed act of luring a child for the unlawful purpose of committing criminal sexual abuse. “[0]ne may chаllenge a statute as overbroad on the ground that it may be applied unconstitutionally to situations and questions not before the court only if the statute is one
Defendant next argues the statute is overbroad because “the fact that the legislature made the age 16 years old rather than, say, 10 years, leaves open a number of problems given teenage propensity to enter automobiles without parental consent.” Defendant has provided no authority or argument to support his claim and we are unable to find overbreadth problems here. In fact, the legislature has more narrowly tailored this provision of the child abduction statute. The child abduction statute defines child as a person under the age of 18 (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, par. 10 — 5(a)(1)); yet, for this particular provision the legislature lowered that age to 16. Moreover, the legislature, through the passage of this statute, has chosen to exercise its police powers for the protection of children. We have consistently stated that to constitute a legitimate exercise of that power, a “legislative enactment must bear a reasonable relationship to the public interest intended to be protected, and the means adopted must be a reasonable method of accomplishing the desired objective.” (Illinois Gamefowl Breeders Association v. Block (1979),
Finally, defendant contends that the statute is unconstitutional, claiming that the language “for other than a
For the aforementioned reasons, we reverse the judgment of the circuit court of Cook County and remand for further proceedings.
Reversed and remanded.
