Using a phone or the internet to inappropriately communicate online with a child under 15 and inviting them to meet you is charged as Internet Luring of a Child in Castle Rock and Douglas County. A man is wanted for Internet Luring of a Child after convincing a 13-year-old girl to come to Mexico to meet up with him. The teen had been using apps on her phone to communicate with the 29-year-old man, including sexually explicit images and messages from both parties. The teen had ultimately run away from home, tricking people along the way to help her buy bus tickets. The girl was eventually located in Mexico City and brought back to the United States.

Douglas County Internet Luring of a Child Definition

The Douglas County, Colorado law definition of Internet Luring of a Child – C.R.S. 18-3-306 – is:

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An actor commits internet luring of a child if the actor knowingly communicates over a computer or computer network, telephone network, or data network or by a text message or instant message to a person who the actor knows or believes to be under fifteen years of age and, in that communication or in any subsequent communication by computer, computer network, telephone network, data network, text message, or instant message, describes explicit sexual conduct as defined in section 18-6-403 (2)(e), and, in connection with that description, makes a statement persuading or inviting the person to meet the actor for any purpose, and the actor is more than four years older than the person or than the age the actor believes the person to be.”

The important elements of Internet Luring of a Child are:

• The ‘victim’ is under 15 or the actor believe they are under 15 (language used to cover sting operations);
• Communication occurs over the computer, internet, telephone, data network, or text message;
• Communication describes explicit sexual contact;
• Statements are made encouraging or inviting the ‘victim’ to meet in person;
• The actor is more than four years older than the ‘victim.’

Sentence for Internet Luring of a Child in Highlands Ranch and Parker

If the intention of the meet up is for sexual contact or sexual exploitation, Internet Luring of a Child is a class 4 felony, punishable by 2 years to life in the Colorado Department of Corrections.

If you or a loved one has been charged with Internet Luring of a Child, be smart, exercise your right to remain silent, and contact the best criminal defense attorneys from the O’Malley Law Office at 303-265-1950. Together, we can protect your future.

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