Recently, a 58-year-old man was charged after sexually assaulting a client at a daycare facility for mentally handicapped adults. The caregiver was working with a mentally challenged female client when he asked her to touch him in an inappropriate / sexual manner. For subjecting the female client to sexual contact, in Denver and Arapahoe County, he would be charged with Unlawful Sexual Contact on an At Risk Adult.

What is Unlawful Sexual Contact on an At Risk Adult in Colorado?

Unlawful Sexual Contact, C.R.S. 18-3-404, is charged in many ways in Douglas and Jefferson County. One way it can be charged is if an actor subjects a victim to any sexual contact when they know the victim is incapable of appraising the nature of the victim's conduct. For asking the woman to touch the man's intimate parts, whether clothed or unclothed, it would be considered subjecting her to sexual contact (18-3-401). And, because the woman was mentally handicapped, she wasn't capable of appraising the nature of her own conduct of touching the man's intimate parts.

In addition to being unable to appraise the nature of her own conduct, the female client also qualifies as an at risk adult. An at-risk adult is someone who is seventy years of age or older or any person who is eighteen years of age or older and is a person with a disability. A person with a disability includes any person who:

• Is impaired because of the loss of or permanent loss of use of a hand or foot
• Is impaired because of blindness or the permanent impairment of vision of both eyes to such a degree as to constitute virtual blindne
• Cannot walk, see, hear, or speak
• Cannot breathe without mechanical assistance
• Is a person with an intellectual and developmental disability
• Is a person with a mental illness
• Is mentally impaired
• Is blind
• Is receiving care and treatment for a developmental disability

Because the female client is a person who is mentally impaired, she qualifies as an at-risk adult. Since at-risk adults, at-risk elders and at-risk juveniles are considered to be more vulnerable, crimes committed against them are punished much more harshly. While Unlawful Sexual Contact is normally charged as a class 1 misdemeanor, Unlawful Sexual Contact becomes a class 6 felony when committed against an at-risk adult (18-6.5-103(7)(c)).

Charged with Unlawful Sexual Contact on an At Risk Adult? Contact Us

If you've been charged, arrested or accused of Unlawful Sexual Contact on an At Risk Adult in Denver or Adams County, contact our sex crimes defense attorneys today.  Those convicted of Unlawful Sexual Contact on an At Risk Adult will be required to register as a sex offender and obey the harsh sex offender treatment rules put in place by the SOMB. It's absolutely vital you contact a skilled lawyer as early as possible if facing charges of this crime. Our criminal defense attorneys fight hard to win every criminal case we defend.

If you or someone you love has been charged with Unlawful Sexual Contact on an At-Risk Adult in Denver, Highlands Ranch or Aurora, be smart, exercise your right to remain silent, and contact the best criminal defense attorneys at the O'Malley Law Office at 303-830-0880 or submit the “Get Help Now” form. Together, we can protect your future.

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