Immigration · Primary-source case analysis

Esquivel-Quintana: Generic Sexual Abuse of a Minor Required a Victim Under Sixteen

By Aneeta Mishra and Timothy Chan

Published April 19, 2026

Esquivel-Quintana uses the categorical approach to compare California's statutory-rape provision with the generic federal aggravated-felony definition.

A California conviction drove removal

A lawful permanent resident pleaded no contest under California Penal Code section 261.5(c), which criminalized intercourse with a minor more than three years younger and defined minor as under eighteen. DHS alleged the conviction was aggravated-felony sexual abuse of a minor.

The least conduct controlled

The categorical approach asks whether the least conduct criminalized necessarily fits the generic federal offense, without relitigating the actual facts. The California statute reached consensual intercourse between a person almost eighteen and one just over twenty-one.

Generic age of consent was sixteen

Text, related federal statutes, and state-law consensus showed that for age-only statutory rape the generic federal offense required a victim younger than sixteen. The Court did not decide offenses involving a special relationship or the necessary age differential.

Disposition

Because section 261.5(c) swept more broadly, the Court unanimously reversed. The conviction did not qualify under this aggravated-felony category, although other grounds of removability or statutory categories were not decided.

Key takeaways

• Compare statutory elements, not police allegations.
• Use the least conduct realistically criminalized by the statute.
• Age-only sexual-abuse analysis uses a generic victim age below sixteen.
• Other aggravated-felony and removability grounds remain separate.