Navigating the Legal Age of Consent in Colorado

The Legal Meaning of Age of Consent in Colorado

The legal age of consent in Colorado is specifically outlined in the Colorado Revised Statutes under CRS 18-3-404 and 18-3-405. According to CRS 18-3-404 (Sexual Assault In The Second Degree – Victim Physically Helpless), sexual consent is only valid if the victim has the receptor capacity to understand the nature of the conduct and agree to it, receives adequate notice and has the opportunity to object. This definition excludes minors who are under the age of 15 or those who are incapable of giving consent due to mental impairment .
CRS 18-3-405 further clarifies that consent is invalid in victims who are:
What Does This Mean from a Legal Perspective?
This means that if a person is under the age of 15, sex with that person is a crime. Crimes involving the sexual assault of a child – those who have not reached 15 years of age – carry heavy penalties. If charged with a crime involving a child who is under 15 years of age, you can face felony charges as high as sexual assault on a child causing death (CRS 18-3-405.5) – a Class 1 Felony – as well as civil fines.

Special Circumstances and Exceptions in Colorado’s Age of Consent Laws

While the age of consent in Colorado is 17, there are exceptions to this law. In the same fashion that the state issue’s close-in-age exemptions, there are a few special circumstances that allow for a person younger than the age of consent to engage in sexual relations with a person over 15.
There are also a few crimes related to sexual offenses that are exempt from the stipulations of the age of consent law:
The most common exception to the rule is known as "Romeo & Juliet." This term allows individuals who are in relationships with one another at the time of the crime to have a non-violent outcome in many sexual battery cases if both parties are close in age to one another. In the state of Colorado, the two individuals must be within 4 years of one another. For example, a 15-year-old is not in violation of the age of consent law if he or she engages in a sexual relationship with a 19-year-old. In most cases, the punishment for these defendants will not be nearly as severe as it would be for those who do not have an age gap in their relationship. The most common punishment for a violation of the age of consent law is normally a sex offender registration, but offenders may also be imprisoned for their actions. However, since the "Romeo & Juliet" exception exists, sentences are usually dulled in many cases.
Close-in-age exemptions go hand in hand with the "Romeo & Juliet" exception. When it comes to understanding the age of consent law in Colorado, a close-in-age exemption is another way of describing "Romeo & Juliet." Whenever a person older than 15 is accused of violating the age of consent law in Colorado, they have the funds to benefit from the close-in-age exemption, helping them to avoid being charged with sexual assault crimes.

Penalization for Breaching Age of Consent Laws in Colorado

Violation of Colorado’s "age of consent" laws can lead to criminal charges ranging from a class 1 misdemeanor all the way up to a class 1 felony.
If you are an adult and you engage in sexual behavior with a child under the age of 15, it is a class 4 felony. Penalties for a Class 4 sex crime in Colorado include: Adults can also face criminal sexual conduct charges if they have sexual relations with minors who are under the age of 17 and out of high school, even if they are the same age or within several years’ difference. What this means for people in relationships with teenagers is that, regardless of the specific circumstances in the case, they can face serious criminal sexual conduct charges, which can sometimes seem like a harshly severe punishment for what was traumatic for the teenage victim. It is important to note that under Colorado law, the age of consent is always 15. Many juvenile sexual assault cases involve teenage girls who have engaged in some form of sexual behavior with their male partners. These cases are nearly always prosecuted to the fullest extent possible by local state prosecutors’ offices. In Colorado, relationships with teenagers are often criminally charged, even if the participants are within a few years’ age difference, even if they are both in high school and on relatively equal playing fields. Prosecutors are not interested in allowing these cases to gain media attention by making exceptions; the law in Colorado is not nuanced, and there is no "gray area" when it comes to prosecuting teenage sexual activity.

The Evolution of Age of Consent Legislation in Colorado

The legal age of consent in Colorado has not always been 15. For example, in 1891, the law allowed for a person to be convicted of statutory sex offenses if the victim was under the age of 18. Over the years, the law was amended in numerous ways, including the following:
• From 1917 to 1977, the law made the age of anyone under the age of 18 a "victim" as opposed to a "child." As a result, those accused of sex offenses were not able to raise an affirmative defense , but instead can only attempt to affirm that the act was consensual.
• From 1977 to 1995, the law raised the age of consent to 16.
• In 1995, the law was again revised to lower the age of consent back to 15. This change was to prevent the prosecution of adolescents.
• In 1994, the state eliminated the affirmative defense. As such, the inability to raise a defense cannot be used as an issue in appeal.
As of 2010, the age of consent is 15.

Age of Consent Laws: A Comparison Across States

In Colorado, the age of consent laws stand in contrast to those of its neighboring states. For instance, to the north in Wyoming, the age of consent is also 17 (Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-1-105 (2018)). Meanwhile, in New Mexico to the south, the comparable legal stance is 16 years, which is the same age as New Hampshire (N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 632-A:2-a). Arizona to the west has a similar set of age of consent laws to Colorado, allowing for consensual relations between individuals if they are at least 17 years old (Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-1-105 (2018)). Among the most permissive laws in the U.S. are those in Vermont, Alabama and New Jersey. In these states, ages of consent are set at 16 years (Vt. Stat. Tit. 13 § 3252(a); Ala. Code § 13A-6-70; N.J. Stat. § 2C:14-2(c)). Other states with somewhat lower age of consent laws include Mississippi (16) and Utah (17) (Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-1-105 (2018)).