The Legal “Age of Consent” in Colorado – 17 in Most Cases

Colorado’s legal age of consent is 17, as children under 17 are presumed incapable of consenting to sex. Having sex with a minor under 17 is a crime, even if the minor participates willingly or even initiates the encounter.

That said, Colorado does have a Romeo and Juliet exception that allows you to have sex with someone under the age of consent in two circumstances:

1. The minor is 15 or 16, and you are less than 10 years older than them; or
2. The minor is 14 or younger, and you are less than four years older than them.

Examples

• Jeremy (17) can consent to sex with Kim (24) because they both reached the age of consent (17).
• Fred (15) can lawfully consent to sex with Kim (24) because they are less than 10 years apart.
• Sally (14) can lawfully consent to sex with Fred (15) and Jeremy (17) because they are less than four years older than her.
• Sally (14) cannot consent to sex with Kim (24) because their age difference is at least 10 years.

To help you better understand the law, our Denver Colorado criminal defense lawyers answer the following frequently asked questions:

• 1. What is the point of age of consent laws?
• 2. What are the penalties for statutory rape?
• 3. What if the minor lied about being 17 or appeared 17?
• 4. What if the minor initiated the sex?
• 5. What if we fooled around, but there was no sex?
• 6. How do I fight the charges?
• 7. What if we are married?
• 8. What is consent?
• 9. Related Offenses
• Additional Reading

1. What is the point of age of consent laws?

Sex is a big decision that could result in pregnancy, the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and social stigmas, all of which have lifelong physical and emotional consequences.

Therefore, Colorado’s statutory rape laws deter adults from entering into a sexual relationship with minors under 17 years old, who are too immature to make such important decisions about parenthood and personal health.

Note that you face statutory rape charges for having any kind of penetrative sex with a minor under 17. This includes

• Vaginal intercourse (“sexual intercourse”),
• Oral copulation (“fellatio” or “cunnilingus”),
• Anal sex,
• Anilingus,
• Fingering, or
• Penetration with a foreign object.

As discussed above, Colorado’s Romeo and Juliet law makes an exception for close-in-age young adults, as summarized in this table.¹

2. What are the penalties for statutory rape?

In Colorado, statutory rape is prosecuted as sexual assault (CRS 18-3-402).² This chart illustrates the penalties.

3. What if the minor lied about being 17 or appeared 17?

It does not matter. Unless you fall under Colorado’s Romeo and Juliet exception, you can be convicted of statutory rape for having consensual penetrative sex with a minor under 17 even if:

• You genuinely thought the minor was at least 17,
• The minor looked at least 17, and/or
• The minor lied about being at least 17.³

4. What if the minor initiated the sex?

It also does not matter. Unless Colorado’s Romeo and Juliet exception applies to your case, it is always considered rape to have penetrative sex with someone under the age of consent even if they wanted or initiated the sex.⁴

5. What if we fooled around, but there was no sex?

In Colorado, minors under 15 years old cannot lawfully consent to sexual groping with anyone at least four years older. Sexual groping comprises touching of breasts, buttocks, or genital areas for the purpose of sexual arousal, gratification, or abuse.

Sexual groping with a minor 14 or younger is typically prosecuted in Colorado as sexual assault on a child (CRS 18-3-405). The class 4 felony penalties include:

• 2 to 6 years in prison and/or $2,000 to $500,000 and
• Sex offender registration.⁵

6. How do I fight the charges?

Here at Colorado Legal Defense Group, we have represented literally thousands of people charged with statutory rape-related crimes. In our experience, judges, juries, and prosecutors are aware that many people who get charged with sex offenses are wrongfully accused.

Two common defenses we rely on are:

1. The alleged victim was at least 17: Perhaps your accuser lied to police about being underage to get you into trouble. We see cases all the time where vengeful exes levy false accusations because they feel spurned or rejected. Once we show the D.A. their birth certificate or similar records that prove their age, the criminal charge should be dropped.
2. No sexual conduct or contact occurred: Since most sexual encounters are not recorded, prosecutors often have a hard time proving that anything physical happened. In many cases, we find evidence of contemporaneous text messages from the accuser indicating that no sexual touching occurred. As long as there is a “reasonable doubt” as to your guilt, criminal charges cannot stand.

Remember that honestly believing the minor was at least 17 – called a “mistake of fact” – is not a defense to criminal charges. This is because statutory rape is a strict liability crime.⁶

Colorado’s age of consent is 17 under CRS 18-3-402.

7. What if we are married?

Lawfully married couples can legally have sex with each other in Colorado no matter their ages or age difference. (Colorado does not recognize common law marriage when one of the partners is under 18.)

Note that 16- and 17-year-olds can marry in Colorado only with the consent of both parents or legal guardians. For minors under 16, the judge must also sign off on the union.⁷

8. What is consent?

With regard to sex, consent is when you freely and voluntarily agree to engage in sex acts. As discussed above, the law makes consent impossible for minors under 17 unless they fit into one of the two close-in-age exemptions.

However, minors under 17 are not the only people legally unable to consent to sex in Colorado. Also unable to consent to sex are people who either:

• are intoxicated or unconscious,
• are suffering from a physical or mental condition that makes it impossible to signal consent or understand what is going on,
• are under duress or being coerced,
• are being physically forced against their will,
• are being tricked into having sex with one person while under the reasonable impression they are someone else, or
• are in custody at a hospital or detention center, and a person with supervisory authority takes advantage of them.

Just in 2021, Colorado enacted a new law making it a class 1 misdemeanor for educators to have sex with students at least 18 years old (unless the age difference is four years or less). It does not matter that the students are adults. Penalties include up to 364 days in jail and/or $1,000.⁸

9. Related Offenses

1. Sexual assault of a child by one in a position of trust (CRS 18-3-405.3): Criminalizes sexual contact with a child by someone in a position of trust over the child, such as teachers, physicians, clergy, etc.
2. Sexual exploitation of a child (CRS 18-6-403):  Prohibits creating, possessing, or distributing child pornography and exploiting children for sexual purposes.
3. Internet sexual exploitation of a child (CRS 18-3-405.4): Criminalizes using the internet to coerce or induce a child under 15 to expose intimate parts or perform sexual acts.
4. Procurement of a child for sexual exploitation (CRS 18-6-404): Prohibits recruiting or enticing a child to participate in pornography.

Additional Reading

For more in-depth information on the age of consent, refer to these scholarly articles:

• Romeo and Juliet Were Sex Offenders: An Analysis of the Age of Consent and a Call for Reform – University of Missouri-Kansas City Law Review.
• The Age of Consent – Yale Law Journal.
• You Can Touch, But You Can’t Look: Examining the Inconsistencies in Our Age of Consent and Child Pornography Laws – Southern California Law Review.
• A Bee Line in the Wrong Direction: Science, Teenagers, and the Sting to the Age of Consent – Journal of Law and Politics.
• Age of Consent – Journal of Psychology & Human Sexuality.

Legal References: