Recently, a Colorado drama teacher who taught at Englewood high school was arrested on charges of Sexual Assault on a Child by a Person in Position of Trust (CRS 18-3-405.3), because she allegedly had sexual relations with a seventeen year old student. Accusations of Sexual Assault on a Child by a Person in a Position of Trust are becoming more common in the Denver, Arapahoe, Adams, Jefferson, Douglas, Weld, and Larimer County areas.

Position of Trust is defined in the CRS 18-3-401 as a parent or someone acting in place of a parent or guardian dealing with the responsibilities of safety, health, and well being or providing an education to a child and then,  taking advantage of them sexually or forcing them to perform sexual acts. Police and law enforcement officials in cities like Denver, Englewood, Aurora, Arvada, Westminster, Littleton, Highlands Ranch, and Colorado Springs see this Sexual Assault on a Child charge more seriously because it involves a “person of trust.”

Colorado law is extremely strict in all sex offender charges. Even though the drama teacher has not been convicted yet, she faces possible life in prison because of Colorado's Indeterminate Sentencing, when it comes to sex offenses. Even though the student has stated that the sex acts were consensual, it doesn't matter because he is a minor under the law and she was in a position of trust.

Sexual Assault on a Child (CRS 18-3-405) is already a very serious charge, but when it is aggravated by circumstances like “pattern of abuse” or by a “person in position of trust,” it is prosecuted as a class 3 felony, which may require a lifetime in prison and sex offender registration for life.

Being in a Position of Trust requires people to be even more cautious about avoiding accusations of Sexual Assault on a Child because they deal with children very closely. Be careful of any instances where you might be totally alone with a child and never communicate in a way that could be seen as sexual in front of them. The Englewood teacher was driving kids home from school, was using inappropriate language in front of them, and was showing physical closeness to the boy in question: behaviors she was warned to stop and chose not to.

If you work in a job where you are considered to be a position of trust and worry that there might be sexual assault charges filed against you, be smart, exercise your right to remain silent, and call the experienced and aggressive criminal defense attorneys at the O'Malley Law Office at 303-830-0880. Together, we can protect your future.