After a few major cases in Colorado, where dozens of students were investigated for passing around sexually explicit and nude images of classmates, Colorado lawmakers seemed to realize the need for a new law regarding private images and juveniles. Under the current statute, teenagers who take nude photos, receive nude photos, or pass on sexually explicit images of themselves or another underaged person, could be charged with Sexual Exploitation of a Child. This felony law was written to punish adults accused of creating, possessing or distributing child pornography. However, children themselves were being sentenced under this law, with severe consequences. Hence the reason for the new law “Posting, Possession, or Exchange of a Private Image by a Juvenile,” which will go into effect January 2018.
Weld County Posting a Private Image by a Juvenile Definition
The Weld, Morgan, and Logan County, Colorado law definition of Posting a Private Image by a Juvenile – C.R.S. 18-7-109 (1) – is:
(a) Knowingly distributes, displays, or publishes to the view of another person a sexually explicit image of a person other than himself or herself who is at least fourteen years of age or is less than four years younger than the juvenile:
(I) Without the depicted person’s permission; or
(II) When the recipient did not solicit or request to be supplied with the image and suffered emotional distress; or
(III) When the juvenile knew or should have known that the depicted person had a reasonable expectation that the image would remain private; or
(b) Knowingly distributes, displays, or publishes, to the view of another person who is at least fourteen years of age or is less than four years younger than the juvenile, a sexually explicit image of himself or herself when the recipient did not solicit or request to be supplied with the image and suffered emotional distress.
In Greeley, Erie, and Evans, Posting a Private Image by a Juvenile is a class 2 misdemeanor unless the juvenile uses the image to cause emotional distress, it is a second or subsequent offense, or the juvenile posts 3 or more images of 3 or more different people. Then, it is charged as a class 1 misdemeanor.
If you or your child has been charged with a sexting crime, like Posting a Private Image or Sexual Exploitation of a Child, be smart, exercise your right to remain silent, and contact Greeley’s best criminal defense attorneys from the O’Malley Law Office at 970-616-6009. Together, we can protect your future.
Image Source: Pexels-Kaboompics // Karolina