A new sex trend called stealthing has picked up popularity recently and is raising questions regarding consent and sex assault. What is stealthing? Well, it is the practice where during sex, a man removes his condom without consent from his partner. It is not only dangerous, as it increases the risk of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted disease, it can also be considered criminal. While there is no specific subsection in the Sexual Assault statute that relates to stealthing, in a roundabout way, a Weld County prosecutor could charge Sex Assault after a stealthing encounter because it deals with consent. If a woman agrees to have sex with a man, with the understanding that he will wear a condom, and then he removes that condom without her knowledge, then it can be argued that she was not consenting to that encounter. She was consenting to one with protected sex – where her risk of an STD and pregnancy were much lower. Currently, advocates and government officials are calling for a change in the law to specifically address stealthing as a crime in Colorado.
Weld County Sexual Assault Lawyer: What Is the Definition of Sex Assault?
The Colorado law definition of Sexual Assault in Weld, Morgan, and Logan County – C.R.S. 18-3-402 – is:
(a) The actor causes submission of the victim by means of sufficient consequence 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 to coerce the victim to submit, unless the act is incident to a lawful search; or
(g) The actor, while purporting to offer a medical service, engages in treatment or examination of a victim for other than a bona fide medical purpose 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.
Greeley Sex Assault Lawyer: How Does Stealthing Apply to the Sexual Assault Statue?
Based on the current Colorado statue, which applies in Greeley, Fort Morgan, and Erie, technically, a man who engages is stealthing could be charged with Sex Assault under subsection (a) – which deals with consent. If a woman only consents to having sex with a condom, and the man causes submission for her to consent under that circumstance (knowing he planned to take the condom off), and then takes the condom off without her knowledge, it could be argued that he caused submission against her will. It is not a cut and dry application of the statue, so there could definitely be defense strategies that could be used to counter argue the applicability of the law in these types of cases.
If you or someone you love has been charged with Sexual Assault or Stealthing, be smart, exercise your right to remain silent, and contact the best Greeley criminal defense attorneys from the O’Malley Law Office at 970-616-6009 today. Together, we can protect your future.
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