Charges, allegations, and pleas are all different. He was charged with molestation and not penetration despite the allegation. The fact pattern he plead to could be very different still. I'm not here saying something dis or didn't happen, but everyone involved had an agenda. Questioning a child in this type of case is extremely difficult to do, and can rarely be done without extreme leading and offering of affirmation for desired responses. My only point in citing the statute was to show how many circumstances may fall under the broad definition of molestation. But to be clear, none of them are good. Would it matter if the touching was over or under clothes? Would it matter if he touched her or she touched him? If she consented or asked? If he said,I absolutely did not do what she said, but we were joking about privates and jokingly patted each other their. it was wrong, I felt guilty afterward but I never touched her under the clothes. I use that as an almost identical example of a case I had. Legally, all those scenarios would be violations of the same statute. To Carol's point, they are therefore all the same. Yet the only thing we can say for certain is that he admitted some facts that provided a basis for an adjudication of guilt to the crime of fist degree molestation. It's human nature for defendants to minimize their actions or find excuses why they aren't a monster. Prosecutors want convictions. Not charging rape when the facts allege penetration would be extremely rare as it could be plead simply as leverage toward molestation in this case. Lawyers can't ask leading questions of their witnesses at trial. Police officers can and frequently do. Child witnesses are very impressionable. If an officer says, "he touched you here didn't he. It's ok to admit it. You didn't do anything wrong. Look how brave you are!" The odds are the officer gets the statement he wants regardless of whether it's the truth, part truth, or total fabrication. I'm not saying that's what happened. But those competing forces of minimization and pressure for convictions means the truth is often somewhere in the middle. I can certainly understand why some here would suggest it doesn't matter.