In Fort Collins and Larimer County, Internet Luring of a Child is charged when a person communicates with a ‘child’ online and invites them to meet in person. Sting operations are a very common occurrence when it comes to Internet Luring cases. Most of these operations are handled by law enforcement, however, it seems some people like to take matters into their own hands. According to a recent report, a Colorado father has been pretending to be a teenager on various apps and communicating with men online. When the meetings are set-up, the father shows up and confronts the person filming the entire encounter and posting it to YouTube. He has provided information to law enforcement and sometimes it results in criminal charges for the men, while other times law enforcement chooses not to get involved.
Internet Luring of a Child in Fort Collins: Sting Operations and Internet Luring in Colorado
The Larimer County, Colorado law definition of Internet Luring of a Child – C.R.S. 18-3-306 – is:
As stated above, the following elements must be present to charge this crime:
- The actor communicates online, over the phone, text, apps, etc.; and
- The actor believes the person they are communicating with is 14 years old or younger; and
- The communication is sexual in nature and describes explicit sexual conduct; and
- The actor invites the ‘child’ to meet in person.
Sentence for Internet Luring of a Child in Loveland and Estes Park
In Fort Collins, Loveland and Estes Park, Internet Luring of a Child is a class 5 felony. However, it can be aggravated to a class 4 felony if the intent of the meeting was to engage in sexual exploitation or sexual contact. It’s much more common to be charged with the class 4 felony. Most law enforcement officers and DAs assume that if you are having sexual based communication with the ‘child’ then you want to meet for sexual purposes. It does not matter if the meeting actually takes place or not – a simple invitation can be enough to charge this crime.