Colorado Law for Sexual Assault and Rape | Weld County Sexual Assault Lawyer
When accusations of forced sexual penetration arise in Weld County, Colorado, charges of Sexual Assault will soon follow. With lifetime imprisonment on the table, hiring an experienced lawyer is a necessity. Colorado law does not recognize ‘Rape’ as a legal term; it is referred to as Sexual Assault. From our experience, we have seen that allegations of Sexual Assault typically occur between people who know each other. People do not usually claim Sex Assault by strangers. It arises most when the girlfriend is mad and to get back at her boyfriend, she will make a false accusation of rape, to try to “teach him a lesson.”
Any call police receive that deals with people in an 'intimate relationship' will result in an automatic arrest, regardless of what really happened or what the police can prove. Additionally, even if the two parties aren’t, or haven’t been, in a romantic relationship, Sexual Assault allegations will likely result in an arrest. Next, if a conviction results from the allegation of Sexual Assault, prison time is very likely. Don’t leave your future up to chance on an accusation this life changing. Contact the O’Malley Law Office for a free consultation today.
What is Sexual Assault / Rape, C.R.S. 18-3-402, in Greeley?
Greeley police will make an arrest for Rape / Sexual Assault, C.R.S. 18-3-402, when the following criteria have been met. These points are also known as the elements of the crime.
(a) The actor causes submission of the victim by means of sufficient consequence reasonably calculated to cause submission against the victim’s will; or
(b) The actor knows that the victim is incapable of appraising the nature of the victim’s conduct; or
(c) The actor knows that the victim submits erroneously, believing the actor to be the victim’s spouse; or
(d) At the time of the commission of the act, the victim is less than fifteen years of age and the actor is at least four years older than the victim and is not the spouse of the victim; or
(e) At the time of the commission of the act, the victim is at least fifteen years of age but less than seventeen years of age and the actor is at least ten years older than the victim and is not the spouse of the victim; or
(f) The victim is in custody of law or detained in a hospital or other institution and the actor has supervisory or disciplinary authority over the victim and uses this position of authority to coerce the victim to submit, unless the act is incident to a lawful search; or
(g) The actor, while purporting to offer a medical service, engages in treatment or examination of a victim for other than a bona fide medical purpose or in a manner substantially inconsistent with reasonable medical practices; or
(h) The victim is physically helpless and the actor knows the victim is physically helpless and the victim has not consented.
What is the Sentence / Punishment for a Sexual Assault Conviction in Longmont and Windsor?
A sentence for a conviction of Sexual Assault in Longmont / Windsor falls into a few different possibilities of punishment. Depending on the circumstances, you could be sentenced to a class 1 misdemeanor, a class 4 felony, a class 3 felony, or a class 2 felony. If someone is sentenced to the misdemeanor, it is elevated as an extraordinary risk misdemeanor. But, if someone is facing a felony charge, they also face indeterminate sentencing. Basically, this means there is a high possibility that the defendant could spend the rest of their life in prison. Read on to see what circumstances qualify for each sentence in Windsor and Longmont. Colorado.
Class 1 Misdemeanor
- At the time of the crime, if the victim is between 15 and 16, and the actor is at least ten years older than the victim and is not the spouse of the victim
- This is the situation when there is a young girl dating an older guy and sex is consensual between the two, but the law does not recognize the consent.
Class 4 Felony
- Any of the situations described above in sections a - d, f, and g.
Class 3 Felony
- The victim is physically helpless and the actor knows the victim is physically helpless and the victim has not consented.
- Any of the following circumstances occurred:
- The actor causes submission of the victim through the actual application of physical force or physical violence; or
- The actor causes submission of the victim by threat of imminent death, serious bodily injury, extreme pain, or kidnapping, to be inflicted on anyone, and the victim believes that the actor has the present ability to execute these threats; or
- The actor causes submission of the victim by threatening to retaliate in the future against the victim, or any other person, and the victim reasonably believes that the actor will execute this threat. As used in this paragraph (c), "to retaliate" includes threats of kidnapping, death, serious bodily injury, or extreme pain; or
- The actor has substantially impaired the victim's power to appraise or control the victim's conduct by employing, without the victim's consent, any drug, intoxicant, or other means for the purpose of causing submission.
Class 2 Felony
- Any of the following circumstances occurred:
- In the commission of the sexual assault, the actor is physically aided or abetted by one or more other persons; or
- In the commission of the sexual assault, the actor is physically aided or abetted by one or more other persons; or
- The actor is armed with a deadly weapon or an article used or fashioned in a manner to cause a person to reasonably believe that the article is a deadly weapon or represents verbally or otherwise that the actor is armed with a deadly weapon and uses the deadly weapon, article, or representation to cause submission of the victim.
Examples of Sexual Assault False Allegations We've Defended at UNC and in Weld County
Many of the Sexual Assault False allegations we have defended at UNC and in other cities in Weld County involve the impairment of body and mind due to alcohol. We have defended many University of Northern Colorado students who have slept with a girl on a night when both the students were drunk. Later, she ends up accusing rape to protect her own reputation. Young women will do this with no regard for what happens to person they are accusing. We have also defended men who tell us that they don't remember what happened, and neither does the supposed victim, yet our client still ends up in handcuffs because he is a male. It is biased and unfair treatment, and it can be a malicious use of the justice system for personal gain by the 'victim'.
University of Northern Colorado Politics in Sexual Assault Cases
When the accused attends a University, like UNC, we often see Rape / Sexual Assault cases become more of a political issue. Instead of being respectful to both students, before a conviction or decision is made by law enforcement, UNC will conduct a Title IX investigation against our client, and threaten to expel him from school. When a university expels someone for a violent crime like Sexual Assault, it is extremely difficult for them to find education elsewhere. Especially when drugs and alcohol are involved, the school will always side with the woman. This is wrong, if it lacks a factual basis for the college to act this way against male defendants. Men are assumed to be guilty until proven innocent, just so college administrators won’t be subject to criticism. This is not how our justice system was meant to operate.
What is Indeterminate Sentencing in Johnstown and Sterling?
In Johnstown and Sterling, if someone is convicted of a crime with Indeterminate Sentencing, the defendant faces the possibility of spending the rest of their life in the Colorado Department of Corrections. The judge will set the minimum sentence that the accused will have to serve. After that, the Parole Department will review the inmate's case and their behavior to decide if they would be eligible for Parole. If they decide to keep the inmate longer or decide that they aren't ready to be reintegrated into society, they will then deny their parole request, and they're stuck. Indeterminate sentencing was meant to keep high risk Sex Offenders locked up until they have completed their therapy successfully. However, when therapy isn't placed on a high level of importance by DOC and there aren't enough hired therapists at the prison, this poses a problem for inmates trying to be released. DOC does not seem to believe that Sex Offenders can be rehabilitated, so they are in no rush to release these men. We have heard of men who have well surpassed their minimum sentence and had zero opportunities to meet with a sexual offense therapist to do treatment. As Christian criminal defense lawyers, we know that each person is worthy of a second chance. God created everyone for a reason, and He provides us opportunities to learn. When those opportunities are denied to us, that is injustice. Indeterminate sentencing fails to serve its purpose when it is abused. Law enforcement uses it to keep people within the prison's confines, rather than rehabilitate and release them.
Rape or Sexual Assault Accusation? You Need a Weld County Attorney
Anytime you, or someone you love, are accused of a Sex Crime, like Rape and Sexual Assault, the best idea is always to hire a skilled and experienced Weld County attorney. Our lawyers have a successful history of defending clients from false allegations of Sexual Assault. A Sexual Assault conviction comes with a felony charge, indeterminate sentencing, and status as a Sex Offender. All three of these make living a 'normal' life very difficult and it shuts out many opportunities that were previously available. Don't let a false report of Sexual Assault / Rape ruin your life. Contact our office today so we can begin to build you an irrefutable defense.