Airplanes are small and there is not a lot you can do without someone else knowing what you are doing. This can definitely be true when it comes to getting up and heading to the restroom. A 27-year-old man was accused of Sexual Assault when he allegedly met a 16-year-old female passenger in the airplane bathroom to have sex. The flight crew was alerted to the situation after the man took the teen into a cabin bathroom. When the teen was interviewed, she admitted to having sex with the man. Police were waiting for the man at the airport when the plane landed and he was promptly taken to jail.
Larimer County Sexual Assault Attorney | What is the Definition?
The Colorado law definition of Sexual Assault in Larimer, Boulder, and Grand County – 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.
Based on the information provided by the news article, the man from the story above would be charged with Sexual Assault for violating part (e). His alleged victim was 16 years old (right between 15 and 17) and he (at 27 years old) is more than 10 years older than her.
[pullquote align=”center” textalign=”center” width=”95%”]Have you been charged with Sexual Assault? Contact the experienced attorneys from the O’Malley Law Office to defend you today![/pullquote]
Fort Collins Sex Assault Punishment / Sentence
For most of the situations described in the statute above, Sexual Assault is a class 4 felony punishable by 2 to 6 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections. However, there are a few exceptions in Fort Collins, Loveland, and Estes Park. Sex Assault can also be charged as a class 3 felony if the violation relates to part (h) or there were threats involved. It can also be a class 2 felony if the accused involved a deadly weapon or the victim suffered serious bodily injury. Both these higher level felonies would carry more severe sentences. There is a slight reprieve for anyone accused of violating part (e) of the statute, like the man above. This type of Sexual Assault is a class 1 extraordinary risk misdemeanor punishable by 6 to 24 months in the Larimer County Jail.