In Larimer County and Fort Collins, Sexual Assault can be charged when a person forces or convinces another to have sex with them by using their professional position to levy against them. For example, a mental health specialist who was working with probation clients in another state was recently accused of Sexual Assault. According to the two clients who reported her, they were afraid that if they didn’t comply with what she wanted, that she would cause problems for them and get their probation revoked. Now, depending on her actual qualifications, there are two other sex based crimes that could apply in Colorado – Sexual Assault on a Client by a Psychotherapist and/or Unlawful Sexual Conduct by a Peace Officer.
Fort Collins Sexual Assault Lawyer: Sexual Assault Definition by Probation Mental Health Worker
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.
The probation mental health specialist could be charged under subsection (a), or if the victims are considered to be in custody of the law, then she could be facing a charge under subsection (f). It would depend on the definition of in custody and the level of supervision the victims were under.
Sentence for Probation Mental Health Specialist Sexual Assault in Loveland and Estes Park
In Fort Collins, Loveland, and Estes Park, Sexual Assault is a felony sex crime punishable by an indeterminate sentence to the Colorado Department of Corrections. Depending on the subsection you are charged under and if there are any aggravating factors present in your case, it can range from a class 4 felony to a class 2 felony.