Defendant John W. Sutton was convicted of two counts of child molesting in violation of A.R.S. § 13-653 and sentenced to not less than six nor more than nine years on each count, the sentences to run concurrently. From the conviction and sentence defendant appeals.
At his trial defendant requested the Court to instruct the jury that contributing to the delinquency of a minor was a lesser included offense of child molesting, and that if the jury found defendant guilty of any offense charged in the information, they should convict him of the lesser of the offenses. The Court’s refusal to give these instructions is the sole basis of defendant’s appeal.
The initial issue presented is whether contributing to the delinquency of a minor is a lesser included offense of child molesting. This is a question of first impression in this jurisdiction.
1
The test for determining whether one offense is included in another offense was set out by this Court in State v. Westbrook,
A.R.S. § 13-653 is the child molesting statute and provides in pertinent part:
“A person who molests a child under the age of fifteen years by fondling, playing with, or touching the private parts of such child or who causes a child under the age of fifteen years to fondle, play with, or touch the private parts of such persons shall be guilty of a felony * * -.M>
A.R.S. § 13-822 provides:
“A person who by any act, causes, encourages or contributes to the dependency or delinquency of a child, as defined by § 13-821 * * * is guilty of a misdemeanor * *
A.R.S. § 13-821 provides:
“ ‘Delinquency’ means any act which tends to debase or injure the morals, health or welfare of a child.”
Applying the standard of Westbrook, supra, we find that contributing to the delinquency *319 of a minor is a lesser included offense of child molesting, since a person who molests a child necessarily performs an act which “tends to debase or injure the morals, health or welfare of a child.” (Emphasis added.)
In light of the above we must now decide whether it was proper in this case for the Court to refuse defendant’s requested instruction on lesser included offenses. In State v. Schroeder,
“Under our holdings, instructions on lesser offenses are justified only when there is evidence upon which the jury could convict of a lesser offense and, at the same time, find that the state had failed to prove an element of the greater crime * * *. In other words, the state of the record must not be such that defendant can only be guilty of the crime charged or not guilty at all * *. For in these cases, if the jury accepts defendant’s version of the killing, they must acquit; if not, and the state’s proof is otherwise sufficient, the only alternative is conviction of the offense charged.” (Emphasis added.)95 Ariz. at 259 ,389 P.2d at 257 .
See also State v. Romero,
Judgment affirmed.
Notes
. In State v. Harvey,
