Age of Consent in Colorado Explained

What is Colorado’s Age of Consent Law?

In Colorado, the legal age of consent to engage in sexual activity is 17 years old. Minors that are less than 15 years old can’t legally consent to sexual activity with an adult who is 10 years or more their senior. A minor that is 15 or 16 years old cannot legally consent to sexual activity with someone who is 4-5 years older than they are. If a minor is under age 12 , they are generally unable to consent at all because of their physical and mental inability to understand the nature and harmfulness of the sexual act involved.
The seemingly arbitrary age of 17 makes some sense as the law is written. Colorado juvenile law does not allow for the attempted influence or seduction of a child who is less than 12 years old, regardless of the age of the adult alleged to be in violation. If the minor is 12 or older, it is a class 4 felony to attempt to influence the minor to engage in a sexual act if the adult is 10 or more years older than the minor.

History of Consent Age Changes

As stated above, the age of consent in Colorado is currently set at 17. In 1994 and 1995, the Colorado legislature passed bills that increased the age of consent from 15 to 17, and altered the penalties associated with statutory rape to a greater degree than had been done previously. According to State Rep. Claire Levy (D), sponsor of the bill in 1995, the focus behind raising the age of consent was to lessen the possibility that charges and potentially lengthy mandatory jail sentences would be brought against teenagers who had sex with a minor no more than three or four years younger than themselves. Some legislators also argued at the time that a mandatory one year jail sentence seemed to be disproportionate to the crime of having sex with a 16 year old when one who robbed a bank and threatened to kill the bank manager received only a six year sentence. In 1996, State Senator Bob Hagedorn (R), one of the authors of the latest increase in the age of consent, suggested that by raising the age of consent the state legislature "would protect parents and would be telling teenagers that we think you’re mature enough to understand the difference between right and wrong." As of July 1, 1996, the age of consent in Colorado is set at 17.

Exceptions to Consent and Age of Consent Laws

The age of consent and the exemptions are contained in Section 18-3-402 of the Colorado Revised Statute which states, in part, as follows:

(1) A person commits sexual assault on a child if such person knowingly subjects another person who is less than fifteen years of age to any sexual contact and:

(a) The actor is at least four years older than the victim; or
(b) The actor is a person in a position of trust relative to the victim.
(1.5) A person commits sexual assault on a child who is less than fifteen years of age if:
(a) The person is ten years older than the victim; and
(b) The victim is at least twelve years of age but less than fifteen years of age; and
(c) The act involves the commission of sexual contact on the part of one described in subsection (1) of this section.
…(4) Subsections (1) to (2.5) of this section do not apply to the acts of any person who:
(a) Is enrolled at an institution of higher education, as defined in section 23-2-103 (5.5) (a), C.R.S., and who has engaged in consensual sexual intercourse with a person who is at least fifteen years of age but less than seventeen years of age, provided that the victim made no complaint to a law enforcement agency, and provided, further, that the defendant has not previously been convicted of any offense involving unlawful sexual behavior, as defined in section 16-22-102 (9), C.R.S.; or
(b) Has been accused of a violation of subsection (1.5) of this section, but the victim made a false allegation of violation of such subsection by the defendant and the defendant submits to an examination for sexually transmitted disease and the examination does not indicate the presence of a sexually transmitted disease;
And…

(6) A person commits sexual assault in the second degree if the person knowingly has sexual contact with a victim who is fifteen or older but less than eighteen years of age and the act constitutes unlawful sexual contact pursuant to subsection (1) or (2) of this section, and the person is at least four years older than the victim or is a person in a position of trust relative to the victim.

Penalties:
Sexual assault on a child is a class three felony. Sexual assault on a child who is less than fifteen years old and more than ten years younger than the actor is a class four felony.
A person who is a position of trust at the time of the sex offense is a class two felony.
In all cases where the victim is elderly, blind, mentally ill, or mentally disabled, the penalty is increased one class level.

Violating the Consent Age Statutes Explained

Violating Colorado’s age of consent laws could lead to serious criminal charges. Under C.R.S. 18-3-405, it is a sex crime to have sex with a minor.
A "minor" in this context means anyone under the age of 17. The crime of having sex with a child (also called "unlawful sexual contact") is defined as engaging in a sexual act with a minor, or permitting a minor to engage in a sexual act.
As this law is worded, both children and adults can face severe charges under Colorado’s age of consent laws. A child can have sex with another child of a similar age, but if an adult is present, they will still face charges for sexual contact with the minor.
If found guilty of violating the unlawful sexual contact statute, you could face:
Aggravated unlawful sexual contact occurs when the contact is done either by making the victim helpless or through force or submission. Aggravated unlawful sexual contact is a Class 4 felony , the same as sexual assault.
If an adult is convicted of having sex with an A sex crime against a minor who is under 15 years old, the adult faces a Class 4 felony charge. If the offender is 20 years old or older and the victim is less than 15 years old, the accused faces a Class 2 felony charge.
Aggravated sexual assault against a minor is a Class 3 felony. If the victim is below the age of 15, the perpetrator could face life imprisonment, registered sex offender status and a lengthy prison sentence.
Consent of the minor does not matter in Colorado. An adult is legally required to understand that underage children cannot legally consent—despite what they might say—and the punishment is severe for violating this law.
A minor can be charged with underage sex crimes just as much as adults can. If a child is in violation of the age of consent law, they likely face charges under either C.R.S. 18-6-701 (Contributing to the delinquency of a minor) or C.R.S. 18-6-702 (Enticing a juvenile into the commission of an unlawful act).

Age of Consent Compared to Other States

In the United States, the laws surrounding consent vary on a state by state basis. The following is a summary of Colorado’s laws compared to those in neighboring states and beyond.
Colorado’s age of consent laws are like those in Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Texas, who all also have a minimum age of 17 for consent to sexual conduct. Nearby Illinois and New York have set the age of consent considerably higher, at 18. Alaska and Montana, however, have age of consent laws similar to ours — at 16.
On the other hand, the majority of states, including California, Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey and Ohio, have set the minimum age of consent at 16. Several other states share this minimum age, including Alabama, Alaska, Massachusetts, Mississippi, South Dakota, Tennessee, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Still a few other states have even lower ages of consent. In Kansas, Missouri and Utah, for instance, the minimum age of consent is 15. In Georgia, the minimum is as low as 14.

Additional Resources for Understanding Consent

There are a variety of resources available to individuals who want to know more about consent laws: Other resources include legal aid services and educational organizations. Legal aid services can help you understand the law and may be able to provide you with representation if necessary and if you qualify for low-income legal aid services . While Colorado Springs does not have a dedicated legal services organization, many non-profit legal aid organizations do have presence in the area. Educational organizations can also provide you with great resources to help you understand the law.