Sexual Assault is charged in Fort Collins and Larimer County when a person is accused of having sex with someone against their will. A police officer has been charged with this crime after a woman claimed that during a traffic stop, she was coerced into performing a sex act. According to the report, the woman reported that after being stopped, the officer told her to follow him in her car. She was led to an isolated area where the officer then convinced her into a sex act. She reported the encounter and the officer was arrested for Sex Assault.
Sex Assault Lawyer in Larimer County: Definition of Sexual Assault in Colorado
The Larimer County, Colorado law definition of Sexual Assault – C.R.S. 18-3-402 – is:
(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.
While it may seem that section (f) would apply, the woman was not technically in police custody when the sexual contact occurs. Likely, if this had occurred in Colorado, the officer would have been charged under subsection (a). The officer’s position of trust over the woman would have played a role and possibly caused her to submit for fear of consequences.
Sentence for Sexual Assault in Loveland and Estes Park
In Fort Collins, Loveland, and Estes Park, Sexual Assault is a class 4 felony as long as not aggravators are present. Based on the information provided, it doesn’t seem that the case is aggravated, so the officer would be facing an indeterminate sentence of 2 to 6 years to life in the Department of Corrections.