People are caught and charged with sex crimes throughout Colorado, in Denver, Adams and Jefferson County. Police often pose (or take the place of) young children online in order to make arrests for Internet Luring of a Child – C.R.S. 18-3-306. For example, late this summer, police made an arrest after a man contacted a young girl over Facebook. According to news reports, the man was a sex offender on parole. He contacted a 13-year-old girl over the social network and encouraged her to meet with him for a sexual encounter. The young girl told her mother, who reported it to the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Department. A police officer posed as the girl and responded to the man, saying she would meet him. At that “meeting,” the man was arrested for this serious sex offense.

Internet Luring Charges are Serious

It is serious to be charged with Internet Luring of a Child. You will be charged if you communicate with someone online, over the phone (including text messages) who you know to be younger than 15 years old and discuss explicitly sexual conduct, and make a statement inviting the child to meet for any purpose. Put simply, in order to be convicted of Internet Luring, the District Attorney must prove that you: Discussed sexually explicit material with a child younger than 15, online or over the phone, and made arrangements to meet (for any purpose, it does not have to be for a sexual encounter). It is important to note that the meeting itself doesn't actually have to occur in order to be charged in Larimer, Douglas or Boulder County.

Sentencing for Internet Luring of a Child

Internet Luring of a Child is either a class 5 or class 4 felony in Denver, Littleton and Centennial. If convicted of this sex offense, you could be facing from 1 to 6 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections and up to a $500,000 fine. In addition, you would be required to register as a sex offender and go through sex offender treatment overseen by the Colorado Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB). These are life-changing consequences. Because of this, it is important to work with an experienced criminal defense attorney who knows how to fight for you in court. Don't put your life in the hands of an untried criminal lawyer or overwhelmed public defender. Our criminal lawyers have over 25 years of experience and know what judges and juries are looking for.

Request a Free Consultation

If you or a loved one has been contacted by Highlands Ranch, Arvada, or Thornton police regarding Internet Luring of a Child, be smart, exercise your right to remain silent, and contact an experienced criminal defense attorney at the O'Malley Law Office for a free consultation at 303-830-0880, or submit the “Get Help Now” form. Together, we can protect your future.

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