A woman has come forward with allegations that a Denver police officer sexually assaulted her. According to the news report, the officer picked up the mentally challenged and drunk woman and took her to a hotel to stay the night. The officer spent about 20 minutes in the hotel room with the woman. A few days later, the woman came forward claiming the officer had committed a Sexual Assault against her. After investigating, the officer was suspended for 20 days and the District Attorney chose not to file any formal criminal charges. It’s truly lucky the officer was not charged, because we have seen people face Sex Assault charges for much less. Fort Collins residents should learn from the officer’s experience: choose carefully which members of the opposite sex you hang out with – your future is in their hands.
Sexual Assault and Sexual Assault on an At Risk Adult in Larimer County
The 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.
Because the woman is mentally challenged and disabled, she may be considered an at-risk adult, and a Person with a Disability – C.R.S. 18-6.5-102. If that were the case, the punishment related to Sex Assault would be much more severe. Normally in Larimer, Boulder, and Grand County, this crime is a class 4 felony punishable by 2 to 6 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections. If the Sexual Assault is committed against an at-risk adult or an at-risk juvenile, it is a class 2 felony punishable by 8 to 24 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections. A severely different potential punishment!
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At Risk Adult and Person with a Disability in Fort Collins and Larimer County
An At Risk Adult includes any person who is seventy years of age or older or any person who is eighteen years of age or older and is a person with a disability. “Person with a disability” means any person who has a mental illness. Based on these definitions, the woman described above would qualify as an At Risk Adult, due to her mental illness.
Sexual Assault: Your Word Against Mine
We see so many Sex Assault cases where it is just one person’s word against another’s. Rarely is there much physical evidence. What surprises me about this case is that charges weren’t filed. The law in Fort Collins, Loveland, and Estes Park states that a person who is under the influence of alcohol cannot consent. That being said, knowing a male officer was dispatched to deal with the drunk woman and then spent time in a hotel room with her, it seems like the kind of case the DA would jump on. I guess there really isn’t a lot of rhyme or reason behind why certain people are charged and why some aren’t – perhaps the fact that the man was a police officer tipped the scales of justice in his favor.