Getting arrested for DUI does not mean you will be convicted. Police misconduct, defective breathalyzers and crime lab mistakes may be enough to get your charges lessened or dismissed. Visit our page on Colorado DUI Laws to learn more.
Colorado DUI
Getting arrested for DUI does not mean you will be convicted. Police misconduct, defective breathalyzers and crime lab mistakes may be enough to get your charges lessened or dismissed. Visit our page on Colorado DUI Laws to learn more.
Colorado In-Depth
It is normal to be frightened and overwhelmed following an arrest. Therefore our lawyers are devoted to demystifying major topics in Colorado criminal defense law.
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Please note: Our firm only handles criminal and DUI cases, and only in California. We do not handle any of the following cases:
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Call Us NowIn Colorado, the crime of unlawful sexual contact is defined as touching a person (a) in a sexual manner (b) without consent. This offense is related to sexual assault but is a less serious offense because it involves touching rather than actual penetration.
In some states, this crime is called “sexual battery.”
Colorado Revised Statutes § 18-3-404 states that:
(1) Any actor who knowingly subjects a victim to any sexual contact commits unlawful sexual contact if:
(a) The actor knows that the victim does not consent; or
(b) The actor knows that the victim is incapable of appraising the nature of the victim’s conduct; or
(c) The victim is physically helpless and the actor knows that the victim is physically helpless and the victim has not consented; or
(d) The actor has substantially impaired the victim’s power to appraise or control the victim’s conduct by employing, without the victim’s consent, any drug, intoxicant, or other means for the purpose of causing submission; or
(e) Repealed.
(f) The victim is in custody of law or detained in a hospital or other institution and the actor has supervisory or disciplinary authority over the victim and uses this position of authority, unless incident to a lawful search, to coerce the victim to submit; or
(g) The actor engages in treatment or examination of a victim for other than bona fide medical purposes or in a manner substantially inconsistent with reasonable medical practices.
(1.5) Any person who knowingly, with or without sexual contact, induces or coerces a child by any of the means set forth in section 18-3-402 to expose intimate parts or to engage in any sexual contact, intrusion, or penetration with another person, for the purpose of the actor’s own sexual gratification, commits unlawful sexual contact. For the purposes of this subsection (1.5), the term “child” means any person under the age of eighteen years.
You violate 18-3-404 CRS, Colorado’s sexual contact law, when:
Unlawful sexual contact is usually a Colorado class 1 misdemeanor, carrying:
However, if the victim is drugged or compelled to submit to sexual contact by force, intimidation, or threat, sexual contact becomes a Colorado felony. As a felony, sexual contact carries consequences that include:
And if you used or threatened the use of a deadly weapon, you face an increased sentence for a Colorado violent crime. As a result, you will face:
Additionally, a conviction on either a felony or misdemeanor sexual contact charges will require you to register as a sex offender with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation’s sex offender registry.
To help you better understand the law, our Denver Colorado criminal defense lawyers will discuss the following:
Read our related article about the Colorado Sex Offender Intensive Supervision Program (SOISP).
§ 18-3-404 C.R.S., Colorado’s sexual contact law, has two main components:
Note that this last part is different than the crime of enticement of a child (18-3-305 CRS). That crime involves enticing a child under the age of fifteen years to enter a
“Consent” means cooperation in an act or attitude according to an exercise of free will and with knowledge of the nature of the act. A current or previous relationship is not sufficient to constitute consent. Neither is submission under the influence of fear.2
18-3-401 (4) CRS states that: “Sexual contact” means the knowing touching of the victim’s intimate parts by the actor, or of the actor’s intimate parts by the victim, or the knowing touching of the clothing covering the immediate area of the victim’s or actor’s intimate parts if that sexual contact is for:
Examples:
Sexual contact does not include intrusion or penetration, as defined below. Unwanted intrusion or penetration falls within Colorado’s law against sexual assault.
Also, see our article on Colorado child molestation laws.
“Intimate parts” means the external genitalia or the perineum or the anus or the buttocks or the pubes or the breast of any person.3
“Sexual intrusion” means any intrusion, however slight, by any object or any part of a person’s body, except the mouth, tongue, or penis, into the genital or anal opening of another person’s body if that sexual intrusion can reasonably be construed as being for the purposes of sexual arousal, gratification, or abuse.4
“Sexual penetration” means
sexual intercourse,
Emission need not be proved as an element of any sexual penetration. Any penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the crime of sexual assault [not contact].5
Unlawful sexual contact is usually a Colorado class 1 misdemeanor. Consequences of misdemeanor sexual contact can include:
Sexual contact becomes an extraordinary risk felony when the victim is compelled to submit to the sexual contact by:
As a felony, Colorado sexual contact consequences include:
Sexual contact becomes a Colorado violent crime if during the commission of the offense:
If your offense is designated a violent crime, prison time increases to:
If you are convicted of (or plead guilty or no contest to) sexual contact, you will be entered into the Colorado Bureau of Investigation’s sex offender registry.8
The entry will include:
Failure to register as a sex offender is a Colorado class 6 felony. Penalties for failing to register can include:
At the time of your conviction, you may petition the court not to add you to the registry if:
Otherwise, provided you do not commit any other sex crimes, you may petition the court to be removed from the Colorado sex offender registry after 10 years from your complete discharge following your sexual contact sentence.9
The best defense to a Colorado criminal charge of unlawful sexual contact depends on the facts of your case. Common defenses include (but are not limited to):
Colorado Legal Defense Group
4047 Tejon Street
Denver, CO 80211
(303) 222-0330
See our related articles on domestic violence, indecent exposure, internet sexual exploitation of a child, sexual assault of a child by one in a position of trust, internet luring of a child, and third-degree assault.