Colorado 18-3-402 Sexual Assault: Felony Class, Parole, Registry

Colorado Revised Statutes section 18-3-402 is the state’s main sexual assault law. It makes it a felony to knowingly commit sexual penetration or sexual intrusion on another person without consent, or under one of several circumstances the statute treats as the equivalent of non-consent. A conviction can bring anywhere from 2 years to life in prison, mandatory lifetime sex offender registration, and indeterminate parole that can continue for the rest of the offender’s life.¹

What the Statute Prohibits

Section 18-3-402 does not require force. It lists eight separate circumstances, and any one of them is enough to support a charge if the person acted knowingly:

The person knows the victim has not consented.
The person knows the victim cannot understand or evaluate what is happening.
The victim submits because they mistakenly believe the person is their spouse, and the person knows it.
The victim is under 15 and the person is at least four years older (and they are not married).
The victim is 15 or 16 and the person is at least ten years older (and they are not married).
The victim is in legal custody or detained in a hospital or similar institution, and the person uses supervisory or disciplinary authority to coerce submission.
The person pretends to be providing a medical service but performs the act for non-medical purposes or in a way no reasonable medical practice would support.
The victim is physically helpless, the person knows it, and the victim has not consented.

The statute covers both sexual penetration (intercourse, oral sex, anilingus, anal intercourse) and sexual intrusion (entry, however slight, by an object or body part other than the mouth, tongue, or penis into a genital or anal opening, where the intrusion can reasonably be construed as being for sexual arousal, gratification, or abuse).²

How Colorado Defines Consent

Because most of the statute turns on the absence of consent, Colorado’s definition matters. Consent means willing cooperation, freely and voluntarily given, by a person who understands what is happening. A prior or current relationship with the other person is not enough on its own. Submission driven by fear is not consent.²

Certain people cannot consent at all. A person who is physically helpless (unconscious, asleep, or otherwise unable to signal willingness) cannot consent. Neither can someone whose mental condition prevents them from understanding the nature of the act, or whose judgment has been impaired by drugs or alcohol administered without their knowledge.²

Silence does not count as permission, and the prosecution does not have to prove the victim resisted.

Felony Class by Circumstance

Every conviction under 18-3-402 is a felony. The class depends on what happened during the offense.

Class 4 Felony

This is the baseline. If none of the aggravating factors below are present, sexual assault is prosecuted as a Class 4 felony.¹

Class 3 Felony

The charge rises to a Class 3 felony when any of these are true:

The victim was physically helpless and the person knew it.
The person forced the victim’s submission through physical violence.
The person threatened the victim with imminent death, serious injury, extreme pain, or kidnapping, and the victim believed the person could carry out those threats.
The person secretly drugged or intoxicated the victim to impair their ability to resist or make decisions.

The physically helpless provision has a practical consequence that often surprises defendants: assaulting someone who is unconscious or asleep is automatically a Class 3 felony, not a Class 4.¹

Class 2 Felony

The most serious classification applies when any one of these is true:

Another person physically helped carry out the assault.
The victim suffered serious bodily injury.
The person used a deadly weapon, or something that looked like one, to force the victim’s submission.

Prison, Parole, and the Sentence Multipliers

The presumptive prison ranges mirror Colorado’s standard felony schedule: 2 to 6 years for a Class 4, 4 to 12 years for a Class 3, and 8 to 24 years for a Class 2.³ Two other rules can expand those numbers substantially.

Indeterminate Parole Under the Lifetime Supervision Act

For sex offenses committed on or after November 1, 1998, Colorado replaces the ordinary parole period with an indeterminate term. A Class 4 sexual assault carries a minimum of 10 years of parole with no guaranteed end date. A Class 2 or Class 3 conviction carries a minimum of 20 years to life.⁴

In practice, a person sentenced to 4 years in prison for a Class 3 sexual assault is not finished with state control at year 4. Parole picks up for at least another 20 years and can continue indefinitely. Release to parole is conditioned on participating in and showing progress through sex offense treatment during incarceration.

Crime of Violence Enhancement

When a sexual assault involves bodily injury to the victim, or the use of threats, intimidation, or force, it qualifies as a crime of violence. That designation requires the court to impose an indeterminate prison term starting at the midpoint of the presumptive range and running up to the defendant’s natural life. A Class 2 sexual assault that qualifies as a crime of violence therefore starts at a minimum of 16 years with a maximum of life. If a deadly weapon was used, the court must add a consecutive 5-year prison term on top of the sentence.⁵

Fines and Restitution

Fines may run from $2,000 to $500,000 for a Class 4, $3,000 to $750,000 for a Class 3, and $5,000 to $1,000,000 for a Class 2. Restitution to the victim for medical care, counseling, and related expenses is ordered separately.³

Lifetime Sex Offender Registration

A conviction under 18-3-402 triggers mandatory lifetime registration. Colorado law specifically lists this statute among the offenses for which a court cannot grant relief from the registration requirement, regardless of the felony class.⁶

Lifetime registrants must re-register every three months rather than annually. Registration starts within five business days of release from incarceration and continues every three months from that date, as well as on each birthday, for life. Each appearance requires a visit to the local law enforcement agency, a completed form, a current photograph, and fingerprints. Registrants convicted of crimes involving children must also report every email address, instant messaging identity, and chat room identity before using it. Failing to comply with any registration requirement is itself a crime.⁷

Collateral Consequences

A conviction reaches well beyond the sentence imposed in court.

Federal law bars anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison from possessing firearms or ammunition. Every felony class under 18-3-402 clears that threshold, so a conviction permanently ends firearm rights anywhere in the United States.⁸

Anyone subject to a lifetime sex offender registration requirement is permanently banned from federally assisted housing, including public housing and Section 8. Housing authorities must deny admission to any household that includes a lifetime registrant. Because every 18-3-402 conviction carries lifetime registration, the housing bar is categorical.⁹

Professional licensing is similarly affected. Nursing boards, teaching credential agencies, and other licensing bodies routinely revoke or deny licenses after sex offense convictions. Jobs that do not require a license are also harder to secure because the conviction and registration status appear on background checks indefinitely.

1
Justia. Colorado Code 18-3-402 – Sexual Assault
2
Justia. Colorado Code 18-3-401 – Definitions
3
Colorado Revised Statutes. Colorado Code 18-1.3-401 – Felonies Classified – Presumptive Penalties
4
Colorado Judicial Branch. Lifetime Supervision of Sex Offenders Annual Report
5
Justia. Colorado Code 18-1.3-406 – Mandatory Sentences for Violent Crimes
6
Justia. Colorado Code 16-22-113 – Petition for Removal From Registry
7
FindLaw. Colorado Code 16-22-108 – Registration – Procedure – Frequency
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 13663 – Ineligibility of Dangerous Sex Offenders for Admission to Public Housing