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There is no single statute of limitations that applies to every Colorado sexual assault or sex crime allegation. Depending on the exact charge, the alleged victim’s age, when the conduct allegedly occurred, whether DNA evidence identifies a suspect, when the offense was reported, and whether the accused spent time outside Colorado, prosecutors may have 20 years, a different statutory period, or no time limit at all.

Those distinctions matter most when an allegation surfaces years or even decades after the events it describes. A Denver sex crimes defense lawyer can review the dates, charge, reporting history, and applicable version of Colorado law before anyone assumes a prosecution is timely—or barred.

Colorado’s 20-Year Limit for Felony Sexual Assault

For felony sexual assault charged under Colorado Revised Statutes § 18-3-402, Colorado law generally provides a 20-year limitations period for offenses to which the current 20-year rule applies. Attempt, conspiracy, and solicitation to commit felony sexual assault are included as well.

If the alleged victim was under 18 when the offense occurred, the 20-year period generally runs after the alleged victim reaches age 18, unless another provision—such as Colorado’s rule eliminating the limitations period for qualifying sex offenses against children—controls instead.

Colorado increased the limitations period for felony sexual assault from 10 years to 20 years through legislation that took effect July 1, 2016. That particular change applies to offenses committed on or after July 1, 2016. Older allegations require a closer examination of the law that existed when the alleged conduct occurred and any later changes that could lawfully apply.

The current limitations statute is found in C.R.S. § 16-5-401.

When Colorado Sex Crime Charges Have No Time Limit

Colorado law allows prosecution without a limitations deadline for several categories of sex offenses.

Most importantly, qualifying sex offenses against children can be prosecuted without a time limit. The same rule generally applies to attempts, conspiracies, or solicitations to commit those offenses.

Colorado also provides a separate DNA-based rule for felony sexual assault. When DNA evidence identifies the accused, in whole or in part, and the offense was reported to law enforcement within the statutory reporting period, prosecution may begin without a time limit.

That DNA provision can also extend to certain other felony charges arising from the same criminal episode. However, the related-charge provision does not apply if a court determines there is no probable cause for the underlying felony sexual assault charge.

As a result, an allegation that appears extremely old on the calendar may still be prosecutable when a child-sex-offense provision or qualifying DNA exception applies.

Why the Date of the Alleged Offense Matters

The date of the alleged conduct can matter as much as the offense charged. Colorado has changed its criminal statutes of limitations several times, and those amendments do not necessarily apply the same way to older conduct.

For qualifying sex offenses against children, Colorado’s unlimited limitations period generally applies to offenses committed on or after July 1, 1996. Colorado law also extends that treatment to certain older offenses when the previously applicable limitations period had not yet expired by the effective date of a later statutory change.

That last distinction is critical. Legislatures can extend an unexpired limitations period, but a prosecution generally cannot be revived after the previously applicable criminal statute of limitations has already completely expired.

The U.S. Supreme Court addressed that constitutional issue in Stogner v. California, holding that a state could not retroactively revive a criminal prosecution after the earlier limitations period had already run.

For an older Colorado allegation, the analysis may therefore require reconstructing the law in effect on the alleged offense date, determining the deadline that originally applied, and then examining whether later statutory amendments took effect before that deadline expired.

Time Limits for Unlawful Sexual Contact and Other Colorado Sex Crimes

Sex offenses other than felony sexual assault can have different limitation periods.

For felony unlawful sexual contact under C.R.S. § 18-3-404, Colorado generally provides a 10-year limitations period. When the alleged victim was under 18 at the time of the offense, that period generally runs for 10 years after the alleged victim reaches age 18, unless the offense falls within the separate no-limit provision for sex offenses against children.

Misdemeanor unlawful sexual contact generally has a five-year limitations period. When the alleged victim was under 15, Colorado law adds an additional three years and six months, potentially producing an effective limitations period of eight years and six months depending on the charge and applicable law.

Most other Colorado misdemeanors are subject to the state’s general 18-month limitations period unless a more specific statute provides otherwise.

Charges such as sexual assault on a child, sexual assault on a child by one in a position of trust, and other qualifying felony sex offenses against children fall under different rules and may be prosecuted without a limitations deadline.

How Leaving Colorado Can Pause the Statute of Limitations

Simply counting years from the alleged offense date may still produce the wrong answer because Colorado can toll, or pause, the limitations clock while the accused is absent from the state.

Under C.R.S. § 16-5-401, time spent outside Colorado can be excluded from the limitations calculation for up to five years.

That means an allegation that appears outside a limitations period on the calendar may still be timely if the accused lived, worked, traveled, or otherwise remained outside Colorado for a substantial period after the alleged offense.

Residence records, employment history, travel records, and other documentation can therefore become relevant when the defense calculates whether prosecutors commenced a case within the permitted period.

What Happens When the Statute of Limitations Has Expired?

A criminal statute of limitations is not merely a suggestion about when prosecutors should act. If the applicable period expired before prosecution was properly commenced—and no valid exception, extension, or tolling rule applies—the limitations issue can bar the prosecution.

But determining that requires more than comparing two dates. The defense may need to identify the precise offense charged, the alleged victim’s age, the date of the alleged conduct, the applicable historical version of the statute, when the allegation was reported, whether DNA evidence is involved, and any periods when the accused was outside Colorado.

That is why older sex crime allegations deserve careful legal review before statements are made to police or investigators. The age of an accusation does not automatically mean prosecutors are too late, but neither does a new law automatically make every historical allegation prosecutable.

Review the Timeline With a Denver Sex Crimes Lawyer

Jacob Martinez has practiced criminal defense in Colorado since becoming licensed in 2010 and founded the Law Office of Jacob Martinez in 2014. The firm’s attorneys defend people facing serious sex crime accusations and other felony and misdemeanor charges throughout Colorado.

If an investigation or criminal charge involves allegations from years ago, review the timeline before assuming the case can—or cannot—move forward. The relevant dates may include the alleged offense, the alleged victim’s age, the report to law enforcement, DNA identification, changes in Colorado law, and any period the accused spent outside the state.

Contact the Law Office of Jacob Martinez or call 720-246-6700 to discuss the allegation and any applicable statute-of-limitations issues.