What Is Colorado’s Sexual Assault Statute of Limitations?

In Colorado, the sexual assault statute of limitations gives prosecutors 20 years to file felony sexual assault charges when the victim is an adult, and no time limit at all when the victim was a child or when a suspect is later identified through DNA from a case that was reported on time. These deadlines come from C.R.S. § 16-5-401, and civil lawsuits run on their own separate clock.¹

The 20-Year Rule for Felony Sexual Assault of an Adult

When the victim is 18 or older, prosecutors have 20 years from the date of the offense to bring felony sexual assault charges under C.R.S. § 18-3-402.¹ That 20-year window applies regardless of how the offense is classified. Sexual assault under § 18-3-402 can be charged as a Class 4, Class 3, or Class 2 felony depending on the facts, but the filing deadline is the same for all of them.²

If no complaint, information, or indictment is filed within those 20 years, the court loses jurisdiction and the case cannot go forward.

Other Adult Sex Offenses With Shorter Windows

Not every sexual offense sits inside § 18-3-402. Felony unlawful sexual contact under C.R.S. § 18-3-404 and sexual exploitation of children under C.R.S. § 18-6-403 carry a 10-year filing deadline, which also covers related conspiracy and attempt charges.¹

Misdemeanor sex offenses run shorter. Misdemeanor unlawful sexual contact carries a 5-year deadline. When the victim was under 15 at the time of the offense, that period extends by an additional three and a half years.¹

No Deadline for Felony Sex Offenses Against Children

Colorado eliminates the statute of limitations entirely for any felony sex offense committed against a child. Under C.R.S. § 16-5-401(1)(a), “any sex offense against a child” sits alongside murder, kidnapping, and treason in the no-limit category.¹ Charges can be filed at any point, no matter how many decades have passed.

The statute defines “sex offense against a child” by reference to the felony “unlawful sexual offenses” listed in C.R.S. § 18-3-411(1), which pulls in felony sexual assault, felony unlawful sexual contact, sexual assault on a child, and related felony offenses. Conspiracy, attempt, and solicitation to commit any of those offenses also have no filing deadline.¹

A survivor who comes forward at 60 about abuse that happened at 8 faces no procedural time bar. Developing evidence after decades is its own challenge, but the law itself imposes no deadline.

One boundary worth naming: the no-limit rule applies to felony-level offenses against children. Misdemeanor-level sex offenses against minors still carry time limits, though the standard period is extended when the victim was under 15.

DNA Identification Can Remove the Deadline

When a suspect is identified through DNA, Colorado law can eliminate the filing deadline on offenses that would otherwise be time-barred. The rule depends on which offense is charged and whether the case was reported on time.

For felony sexual assault under § 18-3-402, if the offense was reported to law enforcement within 20 years and the suspect is later identified through genetic evidence, there is no limit on when charges can be filed.¹ For other covered sexual offenses such as felony unlawful sexual contact, the reporting window is 10 years. Once the DNA identification happens and the reporting condition is satisfied, the normal deadline no longer applies.

This matters most for cold cases. A rape kit collected and processed years later can still lead to charges if the assault was reported at the time. Without that timely report, the DNA exception doesn’t help, which is a point that catches some survivors off guard.

When the Clock Pauses

Colorado tolls the statute of limitations whenever the accused person is outside the state. Under C.R.S. § 16-5-401(2), time the offender spends outside Colorado does not count toward the filing deadline, so someone cannot run out the clock by leaving.¹

There is a cap. Tolling for absence cannot exceed five years total.¹ If someone leaves Colorado for a decade, only five of those years get excluded. A felony sexual assault case with a 20-year deadline could stretch to 25 years in total if the offender spent at least five years out of state, but no further. Once the offender returns or establishes a known address in Colorado, the clock resumes where it left off.

Civil Lawsuits Run on a Separate Track

Criminal prosecution is not the only legal path. Survivors can also sue for money damages, and the civil deadline works under different rules than the criminal statute.

Since January 1, 2022, Colorado has imposed no time limit on civil claims based on sexual misconduct. Under C.R.S. § 13-80-103.7, any civil action based on sexual misconduct can be filed at any time, including lawsuits against institutions such as schools, churches, and employers. For misconduct occurring on or after January 1, 2022, the no-limit rule applies cleanly.³

For misconduct that happened before that date, the elimination of the deadline only helps if the prior statute of limitations had not already expired by January 1, 2022. If an older claim was already time-barred under the previous rules, the 2022 law does not revive it. The Colorado Supreme Court confirmed this in a 2023 decision, holding that the state constitution’s prohibition on retrospective legislation prevents reviving claims whose statute of limitations had already run.

The civil statute also reaches parties beyond the person who committed the assault. Schools, employers, religious organizations, and other institutions can face civil liability for failing to prevent or respond to sexual misconduct.³

Why the Date of the Offense Matters

Colorado has extended its statutes of limitations for sexual offenses several times over the past two decades, but those extensions cannot reach backward without limit. The U.S. Constitution’s ex post facto clause and Colorado’s own bar on retrospective legislation set a floor the legislature cannot override.

The rule works like this. If the statute of limitations for a particular offense had not yet expired when a new, longer deadline was enacted, the longer deadline applies. If the old deadline had already passed before the new law took effect, the prosecution is time-barred and the new law cannot revive it.

For older cases, that means tracing which version of § 16-5-401 was in effect when the offense occurred, whether the deadline under that version expired before any amendment, and whether tolling paused the clock. The analysis gets complicated quickly, and an attorney familiar with the legislative history of Colorado’s sex offense statutes is often the only reliable way to get a definitive answer.

Quick Reference: Filing Deadlines by Offense

Felony sexual assault (§ 18-3-402), adult victim: 20 years from the date of the offense
Other felony sexual offenses, including felony unlawful sexual contact and sexual exploitation, adult victim: 10 years from the date of the offense
Any felony sex offense against a child: no time limit
Misdemeanor unlawful sexual contact, adult victim: 5 years
Misdemeanor unlawful sexual contact, victim under 15: 5 years plus an additional 3.5 years
DNA-identified suspect, felony sexual assault reported within 20 years: no time limit
Civil lawsuit for sexual misconduct accruing on or after January 1, 2022: no time limit

Any of the deadlines above can be extended by up to five years if the offender was absent from Colorado during the relevant period.¹

1
Justia Law. Colorado Code 16-5-401 – Limitation for Commencing Criminal Proceedings
2
Justia Law. Colorado Code 18-3-402 – Sexual Assault
3
FindLaw. Colorado Code 13-80-103.7 – General Limitation of Actions – Sexual Misconduct