State v. Calderon Refines Analysis of When Acts Support Multiple Counts of Indecent Liberties

Author's Note:  The opinion discussed below was reversed by the North Carolina Supreme Court in State v. Calderon, No. 238A23 (N.C. Dec. 12, 2025) (discussed here). A recent court of appeals case, State v. Calderon, ___ N.C. App. ___ (2023), sets forth a new test for determining whether multiple acts of touching a child during a single encounter can support multiple counts of indecent liberties. The crime. The crime of taking indecent liberties with children is a Class F felony defined by G.S. 14-202.1. It occurs when a person who is at least 16 years old and who is at least five years older than the child in question does one of the following: Willfully takes or attempts to take any immoral, improper, or indecent liberties with any child under the age of 16 for purposes of arousing or gratifying sexual desire; or Willfully commits or attempts to commit any lewd or lascivious act upon or with the body of any child under the age of 16. A number of different kinds of acts, including touching and other sexual acts performed on a child, may be deemed indecent liberties or lewd or lascivious acts. But there is no requirement that the defendant touch the child at all. Rather, the statute bars the performance of any immoral, improper, or indecent act “in the presence of a child” that is done for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual desire. State v. Hartness, 326 N.C. 561, 567 (1990); see also State v. Strickland, [...]