What IS Unlawful Sexual Contact?

• Unlawful Sexual Contact is when a person knowingly subjects another person to any form of sexual contact.

• Unlawful Sexual Contact can be charged for any such contact if there is sexual contact and:

  • The actor knows the victim does not consent to the contact, is physically helpless, or is mentally unable to know what the actor is doing;

  • The actor works to impair the victim by use of drugs, alcohol, or some other means of impairment to force the victim to submit to them;

  • The actor is in law enforcement, a doctor, or in any other permission where they have authority over the victim, and uses this supervisory control or authority over the victim to force them to submit; or

  • The Actor is a physician or other treatment provider, and they use their position in the medical field for the purpose of the unlawful sexual contact, and the contact is not in line with any known medical treatment.

• Sexual Assault can be charged as a Class 1 Misdemeanor. However, if the contact is committed by means of force, intimidation, or threat, the unlawful sexual contact may be charged as a Class 4 Felony.

  • If charged as a Class 1 Misdemeanor, Unlawful Sexual Contact carries a penalty of up to two years in jail and up to a $5,000 fine.

  • If charged as a Class 4 Felony, Unlawful Sexual Contact is considered an Act of Violence under the provision of C.R.S. 18-1.3.406, and the charge will also likely be sentenced as an indeterminate sentence. This means the judge will decide the starting point of a prison sentence in the Department of corrections in a range of 4-8 years, but the ending point of the sentence will be up to life in prison. Only the Parole Board will decide the end date of the sentence.

C.R.S. 18-3-404 - Unlawful Sexual Contact

(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

(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.

(2)

(a) Unlawful sexual contact is a class 1 misdemeanor.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection (2), unlawful sexual contact is a class 4 felony if the actor compels the victim to submit by use of such force, intimidation, or threat as specified in section 18-3-402 (4)(a), (4)(b), or (4)(c) or if the actor engages in the conduct described in paragraph (g) of subsection (1) of this section or subsection (1.5) of this section.

(3) If a defendant is convicted of the class 4 felony of unlawful sexual contact pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of this section, the court shall sentence the defendant in accordance with the provisions of section 18-1.3-406; except that this subsection (3) shall not apply if the actor engages in the conduct described in paragraph (g) of subsection (1) of this section.

(4) A person who is convicted on or after July 1, 2013, of unlawful sexual contact 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.