Photo Of Kyle B. Sawyer
Photo Of Kyle B. Sawyer

Charged With A Crime? It Doesn’t Mean You’re Guilty.

Internet Sexual Exploitation of a Child – Really?

On Behalf of | Feb 13, 2014 | Internet Sexual Exploitation of a Child |

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I freely admit that I sometimes take Colorado law to the extreme. That’s because “truth is stranger than fiction”, as the saying goes. Take Colorado’s Internet Sexual Exploitation of a Child, for example. Detailed at C.R.S. 18-3-405.4, this law says it is a class 4 felony for someone 4 years or more older than a child under 15, to invite the child, through electronic media like a phone, text, or computer, to touch their intimate parts while communicating, or to view the intimate parts of the older person. Intimate parts is defined as, “the external genitalia or the perineum or the anus or the buttocks or the pubes or the breast of any person.” C.R.S. 18-3-401(2).

As a result, it is a class four felony sexual offense in Jefferson, Douglas or Arapahoe County for an 18 year old girl to:

  • text a fourteen year old boy and ask him to pinch his own butt
  • talk on the phone to a 13 year old boy and ask him to touch his own breast (see above, “of any person”)
  • instant message a 14 year old girl in anger to “kiss my ass”
  • send a picture of her mooning the camera, to a 14 year old boy or girl

It is also illegal for a man to send a picture of his shirtless body to a 13 year old boy or girl, asking them to view it.

Each of these examples firmly qualify as the sexual offense of Internet Sexual Exploitation of a Child in Denver, Adams and El Paso County. Notice what this broadly written law does not require:

  • no intent for sexual gratification or arousal of the older person or the child
  • no requirement that the older person or anyone else view the touching by the child of the child’s intimate parts
  • no requirement that the invitation or showing of “intimate parts” be accompanied by any sexually explicit conversation or purpose

Bowing blindly to the “child protection” special interest groups, our legislature has made it a sex crime, complete with required sex offender treatment and registration as a sex offender, to moon someone four years younger than you on-line, or to text a boy to pinch his butt. Or, imagine being at a swimming pool and calling or texting a boy across the pool and asking him to take off his shirt (see above, “breast of any person”). That is a crime! Yes, it sounds crazy, but any prosecutor in Colorado could send you to prison for such conduct.

We often see insane applications of loosely worded criminal statutes. If you are contacted by police, politely remain silent and call us at 303-731-0719. Together we can protect your future.