Sexual Exploitation of a Child in Greeley, CO
Best Pornography Lawyer in the Weld County Courts
Sexual Exploitation of a Child is charged in Greeley and throughout Colorado whenever a person is involved with sexually exploitative material, or Pornography of underage persons. Whether a person is accused of possessing underage Pornography, or whether they had an active role in its creation, they will be charged with this serious sexual crime. If you have been charged with Sexual Exploitation, or you believe you may be charged, don’t wait to contact a top criminal defense lawyer. Given that the availability of sexually exploitative material is rapidly increasing, the Greeley Police and other law enforcement officers are cracking down on these cases. Many private internet storage companies are doing their part to report the possession of illegal images uploaded or transferred using their servers or mail systems. Additionally, software and technology are being developed and improved for law enforcement to find these harmful pornographic images. The hashtags for known illegal Pornographic images are screened for in social media transfers, email attachments and internet storage systems. Often, it’s not a matter of if you’ll be charged with Sexual Exploitation of a Child – it's a matter of when.
Colorado’s Law on Sexual Exploitation of a Child, C.R.S. 18-6-403
Colorado's law on Sexual Exploitation of a Child, C.R.S. 18-6-403, is as follows:
(a) Causes, induces, entices, or permits a child to engage in, or be used for, any explicit sexual conduct for the making of any sexually exploitative material; or
(b) Prepares, arranges for, publishes, produces, promotes, makes, sells, finances, offers, exhibits, advertises, deals in, distributes, transports or transfers to another person, or makes accessible to another person, including, but not limited to, through digital or electronic means, any sexually exploitative material; or
(b.5) Accesses with intent to view, views, possesses, or controls any sexually exploitative material for any purpose; except that this subsection (3)(b.5) does not apply to law enforcement personnel, defense counsel personnel, or court personnel in the performance of their official duties, nor does it apply to physicians, psychologists, therapists, or social workers, so long as such persons are licensed in the state of Colorado and the persons possess such materials in the course of a bona fide treatment or evaluation program at the treatment or evaluation site; or
(c) Possesses with the intent to deal in, sell, or distribute, including but not limited to distributing through digital or electronic means, any sexually exploitative material; or
(d) Causes, induces, entices, or permits a child to engage in, or be used for, any explicit sexual conduct for the purpose of producing a performance, or accesses with intent to view or views explicit sexual conduct in the form of a performance involving a child if the conduct in the performance was caused, induced, enticed, requested, directed, or specified by the viewer or potential viewer.
Sexual Exploitation of a Child is charged for a broad array of different acts. Generally, any action related to the creation, distribution, sale, possession, viewing, etc. of sexually exploitative material / illegal pornography will result in criminal charges.
Increasing Crackdowns on Sexual Exploitation Cases in Weld County
How Do Greeley Police Find People with Illegal Child Images?
Because Sexual Exploitation cases are increasing at an alarming rate in Weld County, law enforcement – including the Greeley Police and Weld County Sheriff – are cracking down on people found in possession of illegal child images. When people are found with this material, they often ask, “How did the police even find out?” The answer may be due to one or a combination of the following:
Photograph identifiers exist in the real world. Hash values identify images. Hash values are 32 character hexadecimial strings for photographs and images. If a change is made to these photos, their hash values generally change. But, if they don’t change, there are relatively easy to find with scanning software used by image hosts (cloud storage) and by email server scans. So, if a known illegal child image is stored or transferred (social media, email, peer to peer systems), it is a relatively simple process to locate that image and notify authorities. Nearly all photographs and images have a hash value identifier.
Forensic tools like the Child Protection System, which is software used by law enforcement to scan file sharing networks and sites for illegal pornography. Software like the CPS makes it relatively simple to trace IP addresses back to computers that have downloaded illegal child images.
Rapid hash matching. Law enforcement uses technology like MSAB XRY that assigns a “hash” – a set of identifying characters – to a digital file. The tech then does the heavy lifting for the Greeley Police and other law enforcement officers by holding up that hash to a repository of other sexually exploitative material that has already been discovered. Think of a library, where each book has a Dewey decimal number. That number is specific to each individual book, but the number also identifies the genre to which the book belongs, making it easy to find the book in the library. Similarly, a hash is unique to each digital file, but can belong to the same “genre” as other files.
Being investigated for another sex offense involving a child, such as Internet Sexual Exploitation of a Child or Internet Luring of a Child. Once you are subject to investigation for a crime similar to Sexual Exploitation of a Child, a Weld County Court judge will most likely approve a warrant allowing the Greeley Police to search your computer and all storage devices in your home.
Many people mistakenly believe that deleting a file will allow them to avoid apprehension and prosecution for Sexual Exploitation of a Child. These people don’t know that it is more challenging than they think to "just” get rid of images and videos of sexually exploitative material. Locating a deleted file on a hard drive is not a difficult task for an expert, since deleted files still remain on your drive until they’ve been overwritten.
Sexual Exploitation of a Child vs. Juvenile Sexting in Greeley
In Greeley, it is a crime for any person – including a juvenile – to own, view, or produce sexually exploitative material depicting a child. However, Colorado’s Sexual Exploitation of a Child law previously presented an issue for juveniles who engaged in consensual sexting. Juvenile sexting, while dangerous, is vastly different from possessing or viewing illegal pornography. For that reason, Colorado lawmakers sought to create a law that would discourage juveniles from engaging in sexting or posting nude images of each other, with or without the depicted person’s consent. Posting, Possession, or Exchange of a Private Image by a Juvenile, C.R.S. 18-7-109, was thus adopted into law in 2017.
While Posting, Possession, or Exchange can be charged for one of several different acts, the primary differences that set this offense apart from Sexual Exploitation are:
- Only a juvenile can be charged with Posting, Possession, or Exchange of a Private Image. An adult cannot be charged with this offense.
- A juvenile defendant in a Posting, Possession, or Exchange case is generally close in age to the recipient of the image or the person depicted in the image. The person depicted in the photo or the recipient of the photo must be at least 14 years old, or less than 4 years younger than the defendant. If the depicted person or recipient is any younger, the defendant could instead be charged with Sexual Exploitation of a Child.
Colorado DOC Time, Sex Offender Registration, and Other Penalties for Sexual Exploitation at the Weld County Courts
A defendant convicted of Sexual Exploitation of a Child at the Weld County Courts will face numerous penalties, including time at the Colorado DOC, registration as a sex offender, and many others. See the table below for penalties that can result from conviction of this offense:
Circumstances |
Classification |
Penalties |
| Defendant possessed, viewed, controlled, or accessed + intended to view sexually exploitative material. One count of Sexual Exploitation of a Child can be charged for each image accessed, possessed, or viewed. | Class 5 felony / F5 |
|
Possession, viewing, control, or access with intent to view sexually exploitative material if:
|
Class 4 felony / F4 |
|
All other circumstances of Sexual Exploitation of a Child:
|
Class 3 felony / F3 |
|
When is Sexual Exploitation of a Child an Extraordinary Risk Crime in Greeley?
Sexual Exploitation of a Child is designated an Extraordinary Risk crime under some circumstances in Greeley. Extraordinary Risk crimes are considered to pose substantial risk to society as a whole, rather than just an individual victim. Conviction of an Extraordinary Risk crime increases the maximum sentence to the Colorado DOC that the judge may impose on a defendant. In some cases, mandatory parole period increases as well.
Sexual Exploitation is an Extraordinary Risk crime when the child depicted in the material is:
- Under 12 years old,
- Subjected to actual physical force or violence, or
- Subjected to sexual intercourse, sexual intrusion, or sadomasochism.
If one of the above circumstances applies, a defendant convicted of Sexual Exploitation of a Child at the Weld County Courts may be given a longer prison sentence than a defendant convicted of another crime of the same felony class.
Talk to a Top Weld County Sexual Exploitation of a Child Lawyer Today
If you have been accused of possessing illegal child pictures, don’t wait, and call us to talk to a top Weld County Sexual Exploitation of a Child lawyer today. Even if you have not yet been charged but believe you may imminently be, you need to talk to an attorney ASAP. Sexual Exploitation of a Child is a costly, dangerous charge. Your future, freedoms, and finances will be damaged – perhaps irrevocably so – if you are convicted. Finding a job with a Sexual Exploitation conviction on your criminal record – which cannot be sealed – will be a tremendous challenge. If those penalties weren’t enough, registering as a sex offender will affect where you are able to live and wreck your personal reputation.
Don’t wait to contact an experienced criminal defense lawyer with the ability to help you protect your future. With over 30 years of experience successfully representing clients charged with Sexual Exploitation, our ability to defend is unparalleled. Don’t wait, and call us today to discuss your case.