Have you been charged with Sexual Exploitation of a Child in Colorado – CRS 18-6-403? This crime occurs in Denver, Adams and Jefferson County with allegations that a person has sexually exploitative material on their computer, phone, or in print.  Whether by mail, download, email or sexting, these pictures or videos are considered child porn, or child pornography.  Our society provides no patience when dealing with the subject of child sexual material.

Our law office recently had nude images of some children excluded from trial by a court.  The District Attorney had labeled the images in question as child pornography.  Eventually, the case was dismissed completely on the day of trial.  The basis for the exclusion of these images came under the First Amendment to our federal constitution, and in the words defining sexually exploitative material.  The First Amendment allows people to possess nude images of children in non-sexual situations.  Many caring parents and grandparents have taken pictures of their young  children in the nude, and the law permits this.

The fine line between illegal naked images of kids and legal child pictures depends on the purpose of the photos and whether it is to evoke sexual arousal in the viewer, or if the child in the photo is involved in or watching sexual conduct.  The line between ok and not-ok can become very fine and it is important that your criminal defense lawyer be well versed in First Amendment law and in what meets the definition of Sexually Exploitative Material.

If you are emailing, texting or downloading nude or naked photos of kids, be careful.  The prosecutors are successful in several prosecutions involving these types of images.  If the children are not yours, or if your reason for possessing the images is anything but legitimate parental love, stay away from these pictures.  If you are convicted of Sexual Exploitation of a Child in Colorado – CRS 18-6-403, in Weld, Larimer or Douglas County, it is a sex offense, and falls under the unfairly harsh Sex Offender Management Board supervision (SOMB).  Your freedom to employment where you want, interact with your children, live in your house, and have a family, will all be at jeopardy if you are convicted of a sex offense in Colorado.  There is simply no worse charge to face in our state than a sex offense.  Even crimes of violence offer no comparison.

If you are approached in person or by phone by the police, be smart, exercise your right to remain silent, and call our experienced sex crimes lawyers at 303-830-0880.  Together, we can protect your future.