Unlawful Sexual Contact Criminal Defense Attorneys in Colorado

Have you been charged with the crime § 18-3-404 Unlawful Sexual Contact? This is a serious charge and demands immediate legal representation and guidance. The Law Offices of Decker & Jones know how to successfully defend a §18-3-404 Unlawful Sexual Contact charge in the State of Colorado to protect your innocence.

What to do if Charged?

1. Do not contact the accuser

You may be tempted to contact the accuser to try and resolve the issue directly. Do not contact the accuser. All correspondence before and after the incident can and will be used against you. A lawyer should be representing you in all stages to ensure that nothing hurts the defense case.

2. Do not destroy evidence

You may think that destroying any evidence in your possession will help your defense case. However tampering with evidence will almost always backfire against the defendant. Prosecutors have many resources to recover evidence that you think has been completely destroyed. When the evidence is presented in negotiations or at trial, it will make you look more guilty if you tried to destroy it beforehand. Tampering with evidence is also a crime in itself, which can be added on top of the sentence you could receive for Unlawful Sexual Contact

3. Contact an experienced attorney

When you are charged with Unlawful Sexual Contact, it is critical to exercise your right to an attorney. Your life is on the line and The Law Offices of Decker & Jones are prepared to defend your case. Contact us immediately at 303-573-5253 – even if you have not been charged yet. You need a defense team working in your corner to combat the prosecution ASAP.

The Basics Of § 18-3-404 Unlawful Sexual Contact

See below to read the law pertaining to § 18-3-404 Unlawful Sexual Contact

The Law

Reference the definitions from § 18-3-404 for details on the terminology

Definitions

Decker & Jones will help you understand how the law pertains to your case

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§ 18-3-404

(1) Any actor who knowingly subjects a victim to any sexual contact commits unlawful sexual contact if:

(a) The actor knows that the victim does not consent; or

(b) The actor knows that the victim is incapable of appraising the nature of the victim’s conduct; or

(c) The victim is physically helpless and the actor knows that the victim is physically helpless and the victim has not consented; or

(d) 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; or

(e) Repealed by Laws 1990, H.B.90-1133, § 25, eff. July 1, 1990.

(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, unless incident to a lawful search, to coerce the victim to submit; or

(g) The actor engages in treatment or examination of a victim for other than bona fide medical purposes or in a manner substantially inconsistent with reasonable medical practices.

(1.5) Any person who knowingly, with or without sexual contact, induces or coerces a child by any of the means set forth in section 18-3-402 to expose intimate parts or to engage in any sexual contact, intrusion, or penetration with another person, for the purpose of the actor’s own sexual gratification, commits unlawful sexual contact. For the purposes of this subsection (1.5), the term “child” means any person under the age of eighteen years.

(1.7) Repealed by Laws 2010, Ch. 415, § 1, eff. July 1, 2012.

<Text of (2)(a) effective until March 1, 2022>

(2)(a) Unlawful sexual contact is a class 1 misdemeanor and is an extraordinary risk crime that is subject to the modified sentencing range specified in section 18-1.3-501(3).

<Text of (2)(a) effective March 1, 2022>

(2)(a) Unlawful sexual contact is a class 1 misdemeanor.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection (2), unlawful sexual contact is a class 4 felony if the actor compels the victim to submit by use of such force, intimidation, or threat as specified in section 18-3-402(4)(a), (4)(b), or (4)(c) or if the actor engages in the conduct described in paragraph (g) of subsection (1) of this section or subsection (1.5) of this section.

(3) If a defendant is convicted of the class 4 felony of unlawful sexual contact pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of this section, the court shall sentence the defendant in accordance with the provisions of section 18-1.3-406; except that this subsection (3) shall not apply if the actor engages in the conduct described in paragraph (g) of subsection (1) of this section.

(4) A person who is convicted on or after July 1, 2013, of unlawful sexual contact under this section, upon conviction, shall be advised by the court that the person has no right:

(a) To notification of the termination of parental rights and no standing to object to the termination of parental rights for a child conceived as a result of the commission of that offense;

(b) To allocation of parental responsibilities, including parenting time and decision-making responsibilities for a child conceived as a result of the commission of that offense;

(c) Of inheritance from a child conceived as a result of the commission of that offense; and

(d) To notification of or the right to object to the adoption of a child conceived as a result of the commission of that offense.

§ 18-3-401 Definitions

As used in this part 4, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) “Actor” means the person accused of a sexual offense pursuant to this part 4.

(1.5) “Consent” means cooperation in act or attitude pursuant to an exercise of free will and with knowledge of the nature of the act. A current or previous relationship shall not be sufficient to constitute consent under the provisions of this part 4. Submission under the influence of fear shall not constitute consent. Nothing in this definition shall be construed to affect the admissibility of evidence or the burden of proof in regard to the issue of consent under this part 4.

(1.7) “Diagnostic test” means a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) screening test followed by a supplemental HIV test for confirmation in those instances when the HIV screening test is repeatedly reactive.

(2) “Intimate parts” means the external genitalia or the perineum or the anus or the buttocks or the pubes or the breast of any person.

(2.4) “Medical-reporting victim” means a victim who seeks medical treatment services following a sexual assault but who elects not to participate in the criminal justice system at the time the victim receives medical services.

(2.5) “Pattern of sexual abuse” means the commission of two or more incidents of sexual contact involving a child when such offenses are committed by an actor upon the same victim.

(3) “Physically helpless” means unconscious, asleep, or otherwise unable to indicate willingness to act.

(3.5) One in a “position of trust” includes, but is not limited to, any person who is a parent or acting in the place of a parent and charged with any of a parent’s rights, duties, or responsibilities concerning a child, including a guardian or someone otherwise responsible for the general supervision of a child’s welfare, or a person who is charged with any duty or responsibility for the health, education, welfare, or supervision of a child, including foster care, child care, family care, or institutional care, either independently or through another, no matter how brief, at the time of an unlawful act.

(4) “Sexual contact” means:

(a) The knowing touching of the victim’s intimate parts by the actor, or of the actor’s intimate parts by the victim, or the knowing touching of the clothing covering the immediate area of the victim’s or actor’s intimate parts if that sexual contact is for the purposes of sexual arousal, gratification, or abuse;

(b) The knowing emission or ejaculation of seminal fluid onto any body part of the victim or the clothing covering any body part of the victim; or

(c) Knowingly causing semen, blood, urine, feces, or a bodily substance to contact any body part of the victim or the clothing covering any body part of the victim if that contact with semen, blood, urine, feces, or a bodily substance is for the purpose of sexual arousal, gratification, or abuse.

(5) “Sexual intrusion” means any intrusion, however slight, by any object or any part of a person’s body, except the mouth, tongue, or penis, into the genital or anal opening of another person’s body if that sexual intrusion can reasonably be construed as being for the purposes of sexual arousal, gratification, or abuse.

(6) “Sexual penetration” means sexual intercourse, cunnilingus, fellatio, anilingus, or anal intercourse. Emission need not be proved as an element of any sexual penetration. Any penetration, however slight, is sufficient to complete the crime.

(7) “Victim” means the person alleging to have been subjected to a criminal sexual assault.

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