CRIMINAL DEFINITIONS – COLORADO REVISED STATUTES
In Colorado, the criminal definitions of sexual assault, domestic violence (which also includes dating
violence) and stalking are distinctly different from some of the definitions outlined in university policy.
Below are the relevant sections of the Colorado Criminal Code that demonstrate these differences.
Definition of Consent – Colorado Revised Statute § 18-3-401
(1.5) “Consent” for sexual activity means cooperation in act or attitude pursuant to an exercise of free will and
with knowledge of the nature of the act. A current or previous relationship shall not be sufficient to constitute
consent. Submission under the influence of fear shall not constitute consent.
Definition of Sexual Assault – Colorado Revised Statute § 18-3-402
(1) Any actor who knowingly inflicts sexual intrusion or sexual penetration on a victim commits sexual assault if:
(a) The actor causes submission of the victim by means of sufficient consequences reasonably calculated to
cause submission against the victim’s will; or
(b) The actor knows that the victim is incapable of appraising the nature of the victim's conduct; or
(c) The actor knows that the victim submits erroneously, believing the actor to be the victim’s spouse; or
(d) At the time of the commission of the act, the victim is less than fifteen years of age and the actor is at
least four years older than the victim and is not the spouse of the victim; or
(e) At the time of the commission of the act, the victim is at least fifteen years of age but less than seventeen
years of age and the actor is at least ten years older than the victim and is not the spouse of the victim; or
(f) The victim is in custody of law or detained in a hospital or other institution and the actor has supervisory
or disciplinary authority over the victim and uses this position of authority, unless incident to a lawful
search, to coerce the victim to submit; or
(g) The actor, while purporting to offer a medical service, engages in treatment or examination of a victim for
other than bona fide medical purposes or in a manner substantially inconsistent with reasonable medical
practices; or
(h) The victim is physically helpless and the actor knows the victim is physically helpless and the victim has
not consented.
Definition of Unlawful Sexual Contact – Colorado Revised Statute § 18-3-404
(1) Any actor who knowingly subjects a victim to any sexual contact commits unlawful sexual contact if:
(a) The actor knows that the victim does not consent; or
(b) The actor knows that the victim is incapable of appraising the nature of the victim's conduct; or
(c) The victim is physically helpless and the actor knows that the victim is physically helpless and the victim
has not consented; or
(d) The actor has substantially impaired the victim's power to appraise or control the victim's conduct by
employing, without the victim's consent, any drug, intoxicant, or other means for the purpose of causing
submission; or
(f) The victim is in custody of law or detained in a hospital or other institution and the actor has supervisory
or disciplinary authority over the victim and uses this position of authority, unless incident to a lawful
search, to coerce the victim to submit; or
1
Office Of Institutional Equity and Compliance
University of Colorado Boulder
CRIMINAL DEFINITIONS – COLORADO REVISED STATUTES
(g) The actor engages in treatment or examination of a victim for other than bona fide medical purposes or in
a manner substantially inconsistent with reasonable medical practices.
(1.5) Any person who knowingly, with or without sexual contact, induces or coerces a child by any of the means
set forth in section 18-3-402 to expose intimate parts or to engage in any sexual contact, intrusion, or
penetration with another person, for the purpose of the actor's own sexual gratification, commits
unlawful sexual contact. For the purposes of this subsection (1.5), the term "child" means any person
under the age of eighteen years.
Definition of Domestic Violence – Colorado Revised Statute § 18-6-800.3 (1)-(2)
Domestic violence means an act or threatened act of violence upon a person with whom the actor is or has been
involved in an intimate relationship. Intimate relationship means a relationship between spouses, former
spouses, past or present unmarried couples, or persons who are both the parents of the same child regardless of
whether the persons have been married or have lived together at any time.
Domestic violence also includes any other crime against a person, or against property, including an animal, or any
municipal ordinance violation against a person, or against property, including an animal, when used as a method of
coercion, control, punishment, intimidation, or revenge directed against a person with whom the actor is or has
been involved in an intimate relationship.
(Note that “dating violence” in Colorado is included with the broader definition of domestic violence)
Definition of Stalking – Colorado Revised Statute § 18-3-602 (1)(a)-(c)
A person commits stalking if directly, or indirectly through another person, the person knowingly:
(a) Makes a credible threat to another person and, in connection with the threat, repeatedly follows, approaches,
contacts, or places under surveillance that person, a member of that person's immediate family, or someone
with whom that person has or has had a continuing relationship; or
(b) Makes a credible threat to another person and, in connection with the threat, repeatedly makes any form of
communication with that person, a member of that person's immediate family, or someone with whom that
person has or has had a continuing relationship, regardless of whether a conversation ensues; or
(c) Repeatedly follows, approaches, contacts, places under surveillance, or makes any form of communication
with another person, a member of that person's immediate family, or someone with whom that person has or
has had a continuing relationship in a manner that would cause a reasonable person to suffer serious
emotional distress and does cause that person, a member of that person's immediate family, or someone with
whom that person has or has had a continuing relationship to suffer serious emotional distress. For purposes
of this paragraph (c), a victim need not show that he or she received professional treatment or counseling to
show that he or she suffered serious emotional distress.
2
Office Of Institutional Equity and Compliance
University of Colorado Boulder
