Posting a Private Image for Harassment Denver Attorney C.R.S 18-7-107
On January 1, 2014, a law called Posting a Private Image for Harassment, C.R.S. 18-7-107, went into effect in Denver, Adams County and across Colorado. Posting a private image while intending to harass another person, is now illegal. This crime is often referred to as revenge porn in Arapahoe and Jefferson County. Keep reading to learn more about Posting a Private Image for Harassment and how you can be charged in Colorado.
Jefferson County Attorney: Posting a Private Image for Harassment Law
In Jefferson and Douglas County, Colorado, any time a person posts or distributes a photograph, video or other image displaying someone's private intimate parts for harassment over social media or any website, he / she will be charged with Posting a Private Image for Harassment. The person committing the offense must be eighteen years of age and the victim must be eighteen years of age or older. In addition to posting a private image, video, or other image of someone's private intimate parts, a person committing this offense must:
- Have intent to harass and cause serious emotional distress on the person
- Commit the offense without the other person's consent
- Commit the offense when the actor knew or should have known the victim had an expectation the image would stay private
- Cause serious emotional distress as a result of the commission of the offense
Because Jefferson County police have so many elements to prove, it is difficult for them to prove their case if they do not have statements from you. For example, a private image of your former lover might have been posted anonymously on a site like Pinterest. Just because you had access to this image, or even took this image, it is not enough to prove you are guilty of Posting a Private Image for Harassment in Douglas County. The government must prove that YOU posted this image and that you intended to harass, cause serious emotional distress and knew the subject wanted the image to remain private. Without your statement to police, there would be too many assumptions to convict you. What if your defense was that you gave the image to another person and he posted it? Giving away the image is not against the law – posting is necessary. You can't control what someone else does. Or, your defense is that you posted it because you knew the subject would not object.
Denver Sex Crimes Attorney: Definition of Private Intimate Parts and Additional Crimes
If you've been charged with Posting a Private Image for Harassment, contact a sex crimes attorney today.
In Denver and Highlands Ranch, Colorado, private intimate parts includes the external genitalia or the perineum or the anus or the pubes of any person or the breast of a female. Before the Posting a Private Image for Harassment law existed, other crimes involving former lovers included Stalking, C.R.S. 18-3-602, for repeatedly communicating with a person who that person has or has had a continuing relationship that would cause that person to suffer serious emotional distress, C.R.S. 18-3-602(c). People could also be charged directly with Harassment, C.R.S. 18-9-111. This new crime exists due to the proliferation of social media and web sites where images can be posted with ease.
Arapahoe County Jail Sentence for Posting a Private Image for Harassment
In Arapahoe and Douglas County, Posting a Private Image for Harassment is a class 1 misdemeanor. This means the convicted person could spend between 6 months and 18 months in the Arapahoe County Jail or Douglas County Jail.
El Paso County Posting a Private Image for Harassment: Real-Life Example
Alex lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was dating his ex-girlfriend for a couple years before they broke up, which ended up being hard on him. When Alex found out she was dating a new guy days after they broke up, he was heartbroken and became angry. Impulsively, he began posting nude images of his ex-girlfriend on her Facebook page for everyone to see, and without her consent. He could be charged with Posting a Private Image for Harassment.
Posting a Private Image for Harassment Denver Defense Lawyers: Why You Should Call Us
When men and women are accused, arrested or charged with Posting a Private Image for Harassment in Denver or anywhere else in Colorado, it's usually because they react poorly to break-ups and take out their frustrations in different ways. Everyone has had a bad break-up and knows how painful they can be. Reacting to a painful break-up shouldn't mean someone should be seen as a sexual deviant. If you have been accused or charged with Posting a Private Image for Harassment in Denver, Englewood or Aurora, Colorado, contact our sex crimes defense lawyers as soon as possible. We fight hard to win every criminal case we defend.
Posting a Private Image for Harassment in Colorado – C.R.S. 18-7-107
(1)(a) An actor who is eighteen years of age or older commits the offense of posting a private image for harassment if he or she posts or distributes through the use of social media or any web site any photograph, video, or other image displaying the private intimate parts of an identified or identifiable person eighteen years of age or older:
(I) With the intent to harass the depicted person and inflict serious emotional distress upon the depicted person;
(II) (A) Without the depicted person's consent; or
(B) When the actor knew or should have known that the depicted person had a reasonable expectation that the image would remain private; and
(III) The conduct results in serious emotional distress of the depicted person.
(b) Posting a private image for harassment is a class 1 misdemeanor.