Sex Crime Defense Lawyers in Colorado Springs

An accusation of a sex offense changes a person’s life before any evidence is tested. Colorado’s sentencing and registration laws for these offenses are unlike those for any other crime, so the stakes of every decision, from the first police interview to a plea offer, are higher than the charge alone suggests.

Charges

Sexual assault is generally a class 4 felony. It becomes a class 3 felony when it involves physical force, threats, or a victim who was physically helpless, and a class 2 felony when the person accused was aided by others, the victim was seriously injured, or a deadly weapon was involved. Other charges, such as unlawful sexual contact and sexual assault on a child, have their own elements, and the difference between them often decides whether the case is a felony.

Indeterminate sentencing

Colorado’s Lifetime Supervision Act applies to listed felony sex offenses. A prison sentence for one of them has no fixed end: the court sets a minimum, at the bottom of the ordinary range for that class of felony, and the maximum is the rest of the person’s life. Release depends on the parole board and on progress in treatment. Probation for these offenses is indeterminate too: at least 10 years for a class 4 felony and 20 years for a class 2 or 3 felony, up to life.

That makes the charge, and the class of any plea, more important here than anywhere else in criminal law.

Registration

A conviction for unlawful sexual behavior requires registration as a sex offender. Most people can later ask the court to end it: after 20 years for a class 1, 2, or 3 felony, 10 years for a class 4, 5, or 6 felony, and 5 years for most misdemeanors, if there has been no new offense. Adults convicted of sexual assault, sexual assault on a child, incest, and some other offenses must register for life, and so must anyone found to be a sexually violent predator.

A conviction based on unlawful sexual behavior also can’t be sealed under Colorado’s general sealing law.

No time limit for some charges

Most felonies must be charged within three years. Sex offenses against a child have no time limit, so an accusation can concern events from many years ago. Those cases depend heavily on memory, on how the accusation first came out, and on how the interviews were done.

If you are contacted by police

Don’t agree to an interview, don’t make a recorded call to the person accusing you, and don’t try to explain yourself in messages. Police sometimes arrange a “pretext call” from the accuser before making any arrest. Call a lawyer first.

How we handle sex crime cases

We get involved as early as possible, often before a charge is filed. We examine how the accusation came about, the forensic interviews, the medical and digital evidence, and the timeline. We bring in independent experts where the evidence needs one. We explain the registration and sentencing consequences of every option before you decide anything, because in these cases the class of a plea can matter as much as the conviction itself.