17 years of age
In Colorado, the age of consent is 17 years old. This means once a person reaches 17, consensual sex is permitted with any other person who is also at least 17.
However, there is a Romeo and Juliet law that permits close-in-age young people to have sex lawfully even if one or both of them are under the age of consent:
Minor under the age of consent | Lawful sex partner in Colorado |
15- or 16-year-old | Someone who is less than 10 years older |
14-year-old or younger | Someone who is less than 4 years older |
Otherwise, having consensual sex with anyone under the age of 17 constitutes the crime of statutory rape (unless you are married).1
To help you better understand the law, our Denver Colorado criminal defense lawyers discuss:
1. Consent
Minors under 17 cannot legally consent to sex in Colorado. Having sexual intercourse with a minor under 17 is statutory rape even if:
- the minor said they wanted to have sex or initiated the sex;
- you genuinely thought the minor was at least 17;
- the minor appeared to be at least 17; or
- the minor lied about being at least 17.
2. Exceptions
Two exceptions exist to Colorado’s age of consent laws where minors under 17 can lawfully have sex, but they are very specific and limited.
“Close-in-age” exception
Under Colorado’s close-in-age exception – also called the “Romeo and Juliet” law – it is legal for:
- Minors under 15 to have sex with someone less than four years older;2 and
- Minors 15 or 16 to have sex with someone less than 10 years older.3
Marriage exception
Lawfully married couples can legally have sex with each other in Colorado no matter their ages or age difference. (Colorado does not recognize common law marriage when one of the partners is under 18.)
Note that 16- and 17-year-olds can marry in Colorado only with the consent of both parents or legal guardians. For minors under 16, the judge must also sign off on the union.4
3. Statutory rape
Statutory rape is having sex with a minor under 17 when neither the close-in-age exception nor the marriage exception applies.
There are six Colorado crimes that may be prosecuted in statutory rape cases depending on the facts:
- Sexual assault (CRS 18-3-402) – a class 6 felony or class 4 felony depending on the case
- Sexual assault on a child (CRS 18-3-405) – a class 4 felony or class 3 felony depending on the case
- Sexual assault of a child by one in a position of trust (CRS 18-3-405.3) – a class 4 felony or class 3 felony depending on the case
- Sexual exploitation of a child (CRS 18-6-403) – a class 5 felony, class 4 felony, or class 3 felony depending on the case.
- Internet sexual exploitation of a child (CRS 18-3-405.4) – class 4 felony
- Procurement of a child for sexual exploitation (CRS 18-6-404) – class 3 felony
In addition to fines and prison time, a conviction of any of these crimes requires sex offender registration.5
4. Defenses
Here at Colorado Legal Defense Group, we have represented literally thousands of people charge with statutory rape-related crimes. In our experience, judges, juries, and prosecutors are aware that many people who get charged with sex offenses are wrongfully accused.
Two common defenses we rely on are:
- The alleged victim was at least 17: Perhaps your accuser lied to police about being underage to get you into trouble. We see cases all the time where vengeful exes levy false accusations because they feel spurned or rejected. Once we show the D.A. their birth certificate or similar records that prove their age, the criminal charge should be dropped.
- No sexual conduct or contact occurred: Since most sexual encounters are not recorded, prosecutors often have a hard time proving that anything physical happened. In many cases, we find evidence of contemporaneous text messages from the accuser indicating that no sex could have occurred. As long as there is a “reasonable doubt” as to your guilt, criminal charges cannot stand.
Remember that honestly believing the minor was at least 17 – called mistake of fact – is not a defense to criminal charges. This is because statutory rape is a strict liability crime.6
Legal References:
- CRS 18-3-402 – Sexual Assault
(1) Any actor who knowingly inflicts sexual intrusion or sexual penetration on a victim commits sexual assault if:
(a) The actor causes sexual intrusion or sexual penetration knowing 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 actor knows that the victim submits erroneously, believing the actor to be the victim’s spouse; or
(d) At the time of the commission of the act, the victim is less than fifteen years of age and the actor is at least four years older than the victim and is not the spouse of the victim; or
(e) At the time of the commission of the act, the victim is at least fifteen years of age but less than seventeen years of age and the actor is at least ten years older than the victim and is not the spouse of the victim; or
(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 to coerce the victim to submit, unless the act is incident to a lawful search; or
(g) The actor, while purporting to offer a medical service, engages in treatment or examination of a victim for other than a bona fide medical purpose or in a manner substantially inconsistent with reasonable medical practices; or
(h) The victim is physically helpless and the actor knows the victim is physically helpless and the victim has not consented.
(2) Sexual assault is a class 4 felony, except as provided in subsections (3), (3.5), (4), and (5) of this section.
(3) If committed under the circumstances of subsection (1)(e) of this section, sexual assault is a class 6 felony. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person convicted of subsection (1)(e) of this section is eligible to petition for removal from the registry in accordance with section 16-22-113 (1)(b).
(3.5) Sexual assault is a class 3 felony if committed under the circumstances described in paragraph (h) of subsection (1) of this section.
(4) Sexual assault is a class 3 felony if it is attended by any one or more of the following circumstances:
(a) The actor causes submission of the victim through the actual application of physical force or physical violence; or
(b) The actor causes submission of the victim by threat of imminent death, serious bodily injury, extreme pain, or kidnapping, to be inflicted on anyone, and the victim believes that the actor has the present ability to execute these threats; or
(c) The actor causes submission of the victim by threatening to retaliate in the future against the victim, or any other person, and the victim reasonably believes that the actor will execute this threat. As used in this paragraph (c), “to retaliate” includes threats of kidnapping, death, serious bodily injury, or extreme pain.
(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.
(e) (Deleted by amendment, L. 2002, p. 1578, § 2, effective July 1, 2002.)
(5)
(a) Sexual assault is a class 2 felony if any one or more of the following circumstances exist:
(I) In the commission of the sexual assault, the actor is physically aided or abetted by one or more other persons; or
(II) The victim suffers serious bodily injury; or
(III) The actor is armed with a deadly weapon or an article used or fashioned in a manner to cause a person to reasonably believe that the article is a deadly weapon or represents verbally or otherwise that the actor is armed with a deadly weapon and uses the deadly weapon, article, or representation to cause submission of the victim.
(b)
(I) If a defendant is convicted of sexual assault pursuant to this subsection (5), the court shall sentence the defendant in accordance with section 18-1.3-401 (8)(e). A person convicted solely of sexual assault pursuant to this subsection (5) shall not be sentenced under the crime of violence provisions of section 18-1.3-406 (2). Any sentence for a conviction under this subsection (5) shall be consecutive to any sentence for a conviction for a crime of violence under section 18-1.3-406.
(II) The provisions of this paragraph (b) shall apply to offenses committed prior to November 1, 1998.
(6) Any person convicted of felony sexual assault committed on or after November 1, 1998, under any of the circumstances described in this section shall be sentenced in accordance with the provisions of part 10 of article 1.3 of this title.
(7) A person who is convicted on or after July 1, 2013, of a sexual assault under this section, upon conviction, shall be advised by the court that the person has no right:
(a) To notification of the termination of parental rights and no standing to object to the termination of parental rights for a child conceived as a result of the commission of that offense;
(b) To allocation of parental responsibilities, including parenting time and decision-making responsibilities for a child conceived as a result of the commission of that offense;
(c) Of inheritance from a child conceived as a result of the commission of that offense; and
(d) To notification of or the right to object to the adoption of a child conceived as a result of the commission of that offense. - CRS 18-3-402(c).
- CRS 18-3-402(d).
- CRS 14-2-106 (License to marry) (Satisfactory proof that each party to the marriage will have attained the age of eighteen years at the time the marriage license becomes effective; or, if over the age of sixteen years but has not attained the age of eighteen years, has the consent of both parents or guardian or, if the parents are not living together, the parent who has legal custody or decision-making responsibility concerning such matters or with whom the child is living or judicial approval, as provided in section 14-2-108; or, if under the age of sixteen years, has both the consent to the marriage of both parents or guardian or, if the parents are not living together, the parent who has legal custody or decision-making responsibility concerning such matters or with whom the child is living and judicial approval, as provided in section 14-2-108).
- See also People v. Chavez, (1972) 179 Colo. 316, 500 P.2d 365. See also People v. Jurado, (Colo. App. 2001) 30 P.3d 769. Prior to March 1, 2022, statutory rape between a 15- or 16-year old with an adult at least 10 years older was an extraordinary risk class 1 misdemeanor carrying 6 to 24 months in jail and/or $500 to $5,000. SB21-271.
- See also United States v. Wray, (10th Cir. 2015) 776 F.3d 1182.