Colorado Criminal Lawyer Series – Sealing A Conviction For Revenger Porn – 18-7-107, 108 and 24-72-709

Colorado Criminal Lawyer Series – Sealing A Conviction For Revenger Porn – 18-7-107, 108 and 24-72-709

By H. Michael Steinberg – Colorado Sex Crimes – Revenge Porn – Criminal Defense Lawyer

Quietly – and thankfully – the Colorado State Legislature passed a new law this year (2014) permitting the sealing of a conviction for Colorado Revenge Porn.

What Exactly Are The Colorado Criminal Revenge Porn Laws?

Colorado’s revenge porn laws (effective July 1, 2014) are found at 18-7-107 & 108 of the Colorado Revised Statutes.

While several other states have revenge porn laws (Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Hawaii, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin) – Colorado’s laws are somewhat unique.

Criminal Revenge Porn laws involve the criminalization of the posting or sharing of (sexually explicit) private images or video publically shared over the Internet of an individual over the age of 18 without their consent.

These laws include the posting or distributing the images on any media site or any other web site with the intent to harass, humiliate, cause serious emotional distress, or intimidate the person depicted in the picture or video and include any picture or video in which the victim was unaware they were being photographed or filmed.

Here Are The Two Colorado Revenge Porn Crimes:

Posting a Private Image for Harassment. C.R.S. 18-7-107.

A person commits a crime when he or she posts or publishes a private image for harassment if he or she posts or distributes through the use of social media or any web site any photograph, video, or other image displaying the private intimate parts of an identified or identifiable person 18 years of age or older: with the intent to harass the depicted person and inflict serious emotional distress upon the depicted person; without the depicted person’s consent; or when the actor knew or should have known that the depicted person had a reasonable expectation that the image would remain private; and the conduct results in serious emotional distress of the depicted.

Posting a Private Image for Pecuniary (monetary) Gain. (C.R.S.) 18-7-108.

A person who is 18 years of age or older commits the offense of posting a private image for pecuniary (monetary) gain if he or she posts or distributes through social media or any web site any photograph, video, or other image displaying the private intimate parts of an identified or identifiable person eighteen years of age or older: with the intent to obtain a pecuniary benefit from any person as a result of the posting, viewing, or removal of the private image; and when the actor has not obtained the depicted person’s consent; or when the actor knew or should have known that the depicted person had a reasonable expectation that the image would remain private.

These crimes are defined as Class 1 Misdemeanors and the court shall fine the defendant up to $10,000. Upon a conviction, the trial court must order the defendant or the entity where the photos are posted or published to remove the photographs from the Internet.

The New Sealing Law For Convictions Under Colorado’s Revenge Porn Law – § 24-72-709.

If you are convicted for posting an intimate photograph of a person on the internet, that conviction may now be sealed under Colorado’s newest sealing law.

Found with the other recently consolidated Colorado sealing laws – the new revenge porn is found in Part 7 of Title 24 and Article 72

(24-72-709 – Criminal Justice Record Sealing

Here is a reprint of the law (good luck)

(1) If a person who was convicted of posting a private image for harassment in violation of section 18-7-107, C.R.S., or posting a private image for pecuniary gain in violation of section 18-7-108, C.R.S., has completed the sentence, including payment of the fine, and has not been convicted of another criminal offense for at least five years after the date he or she completed his or her sentence, he or she may petition the district court of the district in which the conviction record pertaining to the defendant’s conviction for posting an intimate photograph of a person is located for the sealing of the conviction records, except for basic identifying information.

(2) Upon the filing of a petition, the court shall review the petition and determine whether the petition is sufficient on its face. If the court determines that the petition on its face is insufficient or if the court determines that, after taking judicial notice of matters outside the petition, the petitioner is not entitled to relief under this section, the court shall enter an order denying the petition and mail a copy of the order to the petitioner or, as permitted, serve the order under supreme court rules. The court’s order shall specify the reasons for the denial of the petition.

(3) If the court determines that the petition is sufficient on its face and that no other grounds exist at that time for the court to deny the petition under this section, the court shall set a date for a hearing, and the petitioner shall notify the prosecuting attorney by certified mail at least ten days prior to the hearing, the arresting agency, and any other person or agency identified by the petitioner.

Except as provided for in section 18-1.3-101 (10) (c),C.R.S., after the hearing described in this subsection (3) is conducted and if the court finds that the harm to the privacy of the petitioner or dangers of unwarranted adverse consequences to the petitioner outweigh the public interest in retaining the conviction records, the court may order such records, except basic identification information, to be sealed. In making this determination, the court shall, at a minimum, consider the factors in section 24-72-704 (1) ( C )

H. Michael Steinberg