Colorado Sexting Laws: Legal Consequences and Penalties

Colorado's dedicated juvenile sexting statute, C.R.S. § 18-7-109, creates a tiered system: a consensual teen exchange is a civil infraction carrying a fine up to $50, while non-consensual disclosure rises to a Class 2 misdemeanor. Adults who solicit or possess explicit images of minors face felony charges under C.R.S. § 18-6-403.

Colorado takes a measured approach to sexting laws. The state separates teen-to-teen consensual behavior from predatory adult conduct, applying penalties that match the severity of the offense. A consensual exchange of images between two teenagers results in a civil infraction, while an adult who solicits explicit images from a minor faces a felony carrying years in prison.

This guide covers every aspect of Colorado's sexting laws, from the specific juvenile statute (C.R.S. § 18-7-109) to the adult child exploitation law (C.R.S. § 18-6-403), revenge porn protections (C.R.S. § 18-7-107), and the 2025 deepfake legislation (SB 25-288).

Colorado's Teen Sexting Statute: C.R.S. § 18-7-109

Before 2017, Colorado teens caught sexting faced potential felony charges under the state's child exploitation statutes. The legislature recognized that branding a teenager as a sex offender for sharing a photo with a dating partner was disproportionate.

In 2017, Colorado enacted HB 17-1302, codified as C.R.S. § 18-7-109. Senate Bill 25-288 rewrote the section in 2025, and it now carries the title "Disclosure, possession, or exchange of a private intimate image or intimate digital depiction by a juvenile." This law applies exclusively to juveniles under 18 and creates a tiered system with three distinct offenses. The 2025 rewrite applies to offenses committed on or after August 6, 2025.

What Images and Depictions Are Covered?

The 2025 amendments deleted the statute's old "sexually explicit image" definition. Section 18-7-109 now turns on two defined terms, and all three tiers below read on either one.

A private intimate image is a photograph, film, videotape, recording, digital file, or other reproduction depicting the private intimate parts of an identifiable person, or that person engaging in sexual acts, regardless of whether or not intimate parts are visible in the image.

An intimate digital depiction is a highly realistic visual depiction that falsely appears to be authentic, shows a person appearing to act in a way they did not act, and was created, altered, or produced by digitization or computer-generated means, and that depicts the intimate parts of an identifiable person or that person engaging in sexual acts. The section defines "digitization" to expressly include creating or altering an image using generative AI software, and separately defines "generative AI" and "image editing software." Handmade drawings and cartoons are excluded.

Private intimate parts means external genitalia or the perineum or the anus or buttocks or the pubes of a person or the breast of a female. The statute sets no partial-coverage threshold, so it does not turn on how much of the breast is visible.

The law only applies to images and depictions sent through digital or electronic means, such as text messages, social media, email, or messaging apps.

Penalties for Teen Sexting: Three Tiers

Colorado uses a tiered penalty system that distinguishes between consensual sharing, simple possession, and malicious distribution. The goal is to educate rather than incarcerate.

Tier 1: Consensual Exchange (Civil Infraction)

If a juvenile knowingly sends a sexually explicit image of themselves to another person who requested or agreed to receive it, this is a civil infraction, not a crime.

• Penalty: Fine of up to $50 (waivable if the court finds the juvenile cannot pay).
• Alternative: Completion of an educational program on the risks and consequences of sexting, as designed by the Colorado School Safety Resource Center.
• Criminal Record: None. This is not a criminal conviction.
• Sex Offender Registration: Not required.

This tier is designed for the most common scenario: two teenagers in a relationship who share images with each other voluntarily.

Tier 2: Possession (Petty Offense)

If a juvenile knowingly possesses a sexually explicit image of another person who is at least 14 years old or less than four years younger than the juvenile, it is a petty offense.

• Penalty: Fine and/or educational programming.
• 72-Hour Safe Harbor: It is not a violation if the juvenile took reasonable steps to destroy or delete the image within 72 hours of first viewing it, or reported it to law enforcement or a school resource officer within 72 hours.
• Escalation: Possession becomes a class 2 misdemeanor if the juvenile possesses 10 or more separate images depicting 3 or more separate people.

Tier 3: Disclosing or Threatening to Disclose (Misdemeanor)

This tier addresses the most harmful behavior: sharing someone's intimate image or AI-generated depiction without consent, or sending it to a recipient who did not request it.

A juvenile commits the offense of "disclosing a private intimate image or intimate digital depiction by a juvenile" if they knowingly disclose or threaten to disclose a private intimate image or intimate digital depiction of another person when any one of the following is true:

• The disclosure is without the depicted individual's consent.
• The recipient did not solicit or request the image and suffered emotional distress.
• The juvenile knew or should have known the depicted individual expected the image to remain private.

The consent prong stands on its own, so a disclosure can be charged even if the recipient asked for the image and no one was distressed. A bare threat to disclose is also chargeable under the 2025 version; the earlier text reached only actual distribution, display, or publication.

Aggravating factors that elevate the charge to a Class 1 misdemeanor include:

• Intent to coerce, intimidate, threaten, or cause emotional distress to the depicted person.
• A prior adjudication or completed diversion program for the same offense.
• Disclosure of 3 or more images or depictions of 3 or more separate people.

Protection from Felony Charges

One of the most important features of § 18-7-109 is its safe harbor provision. If a juvenile's conduct falls within the elements of the petty offense (possession) or civil infraction (exchange), the juvenile cannot be prosecuted for the distribution or possession/viewing forms of sexual exploitation of a child under C.R.S. § 18-6-403(3)(b) and (3)(b.5). This carve-out does not extend to causing or inducing a child to engage in explicit conduct, or to possession with intent to sell or distribute, so prosecutors can still pursue felony charges under those provisions.

Diversion Programs and Education

Colorado law encourages prosecutors to develop diversion and alternative programs for first-time juvenile sexting offenses. These programs focus on education over punishment.

Common diversion requirements include:

• Completing a sexting education course covering legal risks, digital safety, and healthy relationships.
• Community service hours.
• Counseling sessions.
• Parental involvement requirements.

Several judicial districts in Colorado operate dedicated sexting diversion programs. For example, the First Judicial District Attorney's Office runs a "Sexting Solutions" program that uses evidence-based intervention strategies to keep youth out of the criminal justice system.

Record expungement: After a juvenile completes a diversion program or sentence, all juvenile court records and related case records must be expunged within 42 days.

Sexual Exploitation of a Child: C.R.S. § 18-6-403

While § 18-7-109 provides a path for teens, the state's primary child pornography statute remains in full effect for adults and for juvenile conduct that falls outside the teen sexting law.

C.R.S. § 18-6-403 makes it a felony to possess, produce, distribute, or promote sexually exploitative material involving anyone under 18.

SB 25-288 also expanded the definition of "sexually exploitative material" in this section to include a realistic visual depiction created, altered, or produced by digitization or computer-generated means that depicts an identifiable child engaged in explicit sexual conduct. Prosecutors do not have to prove the actual identity of the child, and it is no defense that the defendant did not know the depiction was computer-generated.

Penalties for Adults

Colorado charges each item of sexually exploitative material accessed, viewed, possessed, or controlled as a separate count, so a person found with multiple images can face multiple Class 5 felony charges rather than one charge capped at a set number of images.

Mandatory consequences for any conviction under this statute:

• Sex offender registration with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
• Potential indeterminate (lifetime supervision) sentencing.
• Restrictions on where the offender can live and work.
• Regular check-ins with law enforcement.

Adults Sexting With Minors

An adult (18 or older) who sends, requests, or receives sexually explicit images involving a minor (under 18) faces serious felony charges. There is no close-in-age exception for adults regarding possession of sexually exploitative material.

Charges an adult may face include:

• Sexual Exploitation of a Child (C.R.S. § 18-6-403): Possession of the images alone is a Class 5 felony for a first offense.
• Enticement of a Child (C.R.S. § 18-3-305): If the adult persuades or attempts to persuade a minor to send explicit images, this separate charge applies.
• Internet Luring of a Child (C.R.S. § 18-3-306): Using the internet or text messages to arrange a meeting with a minor for sexual purposes.

Each of these charges carries mandatory sex offender registration upon conviction.

Revenge Porn: C.R.S. § 18-7-107

Colorado's revenge porn law, officially titled "Disclosing a private intimate image or intimate digital depiction for harassment" (C.R.S. § 18-7-107), makes it a crime to share intimate images of another person without their consent. SB 25-288 renamed and rewrote the section in 2025; it was previously titled "Posting a private image for harassment."

A person commits this offense if they:

• Disclose or threaten to disclose a private intimate image or intimate digital depiction of another person, if the actor is 18 or older.
• Do so without that person's consent.
• Either act with intent to harass, intimidate, or coerce the depicted person, or knew or reasonably should have known the depicted person had a reasonable expectation the image would remain private.
• And the disclosure or threatened disclosure causes physical, emotional, or reputational harm to the depicted person (broadened by SB 25-288 in 2025 from the earlier "serious emotional distress" standard, not eliminated).

Penalties

• Standard offense: Class 1 misdemeanor, up to 364 days in jail and a fine of up to $1,000, plus a mandatory additional fine of up to $10,000 credited to the crime victim compensation fund.
• Safety-threat felony: The offense is elevated to a Class 6 felony, not just a longer misdemeanor, if the disclosure posed an imminent and serious threat to the depicted person's safety or their immediate family's safety and the actor knew or reasonably should have known of that threat.
• Civil liability: Victims may sue the offender for damages in civil court, separate from the criminal case.

Disclosing for Pecuniary Gain (C.R.S. § 18-7-108)

Disclosing or threatening to disclose a private intimate image or intimate digital depiction for pecuniary gain (such as selling it to a website) is a separate offense, renamed by SB 25-288 from "posting a private image for pecuniary gain." It is a Class 1 misdemeanor, elevated to a Class 6 felony on the same imminent-and-serious-safety-threat trigger, and it carries the same mandatory additional fine of up to $10,000 credited to the crime victim compensation fund.

AI Deepfakes and Digital Intimate Images: SB 25-288 (2025)

Governor Jared Polis signed SB 25-288 into law on June 2, 2025, and it took effect on August 6, 2025. Its criminal provisions apply to offenses committed on or after that date. This legislation closed a significant legal gap by addressing AI-generated intimate images (commonly called "deepfakes").

What the Law Covers

• AI-generated images: The law explicitly includes images created, adapted, or modified by computer software that appear to be realistic depictions of a real, identifiable person.
• No original photo required: A person can be charged for creating or distributing a deepfake nude image even if the depicted person was never actually photographed in that state.
• Expanded distribution methods: The statute covers any form of electronic disclosure, including texts, emails, direct messages, and shared links.

Criminal Penalties

• Standard offense: Class 1 misdemeanor (up to 364 days in jail), plus the mandatory additional fine of up to $10,000 that § 18-7-107 already carried.
• Elevated offense: Class 6 felony, carrying 1 to 18 months in prison, but only if the actor actually disclosed the image or depiction and the disclosure posed an imminent and serious threat to the depicted person's safety or the safety of their immediate family, and the actor knew or reasonably should have known of that threat. This safety trigger is the only felony elevation in the enacted law.

Juveniles Fall Under § 18-7-109, Not § 18-7-107

Section 18-7-107 reaches only actors who are 18 or older, and it defines "depicted individual" as a person eighteen years of age or older. SB 25-288 covered minors by amending the juvenile statute in the same bill: § 18-7-109 was rewritten so that all three of its tiers read on a "private intimate image or intimate digital depiction," and the section now carries its own definitions of "digital depiction," "digitization" (expressly including generative AI software), "generative AI," "image editing software," and "intimate digital depiction."

A teenager who creates or shares an AI-generated nude image of a classmate is therefore not outside Colorado's deepfake provisions. That conduct is charged under § 18-7-109, on the same tiered scale as any other private intimate image, and a depiction of an identifiable person under 18 can also fall within the expanded definition of sexually exploitative material in § 18-6-403.

Civil Right of Action

SB 25-288 also creates a private right of action, codified as a new part 15 of article 21 of title 13, the "Preventing Unauthorized Disclosure of Intimate Digital Depictions Act." A victim depicted in a nonconsensual intimate digital image can sue the person who disclosed it and recover:

• An amount equal to the monetary gain the defendant made from creating, developing, or disclosing the depiction.
• Actual damages (including emotional distress) or $150,000 in liquidated damages, whichever amount is greater.
• Exemplary damages, plus the cost of the action including reasonable attorney fees.

Broadened Harm Requirement

The older version of § 18-7-107 required prosecutors to prove the victim suffered "serious emotional distress." SB 25-288 broadened this element rather than removing it: prosecutors must now prove the disclosure caused physical, emotional, or reputational harm to the depicted person, a wider set of qualifying harms than emotional distress alone. Proof of actual resulting harm is still required.

Sex Offender Registration

Colorado's registration requirements depend heavily on which statute applies.

Juveniles Under § 18-7-109

Convictions under the juvenile sexting statute typically do not require sex offender registration. The civil infraction (exchange) and petty offense (possession) tiers carry no registration requirement. Even the misdemeanor tiers (posting) are designed to avoid branding a teenager for life.

Adults Under § 18-6-403

Every conviction for Sexual Exploitation of a Child requires registration on the Colorado sex offender registry. Registration involves:

• Being listed on a public database accessible by the community.
• Restrictions on where the offender can live (typically not near schools or parks).
• Regular in-person check-ins with local law enforcement.
• Potential lifetime supervision.

Juvenile Privacy Protections

If a juvenile is adjudicated for a sex-related offense that does require registration, their information is not made publicly available on the registry. Juveniles may also petition the court to discontinue registration if they meet certain conditions, including a favorable evaluation from a qualified professional.

Long-Term Consequences Beyond Criminal Penalties

Even when a teen avoids jail time and registration, a sexting incident can create lasting problems.

School Discipline

Schools often enforce their own policies. If the sexting occurred on school grounds, during school hours, or using school devices, the student may face:

• Suspension or expulsion.
• Removal from sports teams or extracurricular activities.
• Notation on their permanent disciplinary record.

Digital Footprint

Once an image is sent, control over it is lost. It can be screenshotted, forwarded, uploaded to websites, or recovered by data scraping tools. This can affect future college admissions, scholarship opportunities, and employment background checks for years.

What to Do If Contacted by Police

If you or your child is approached by police regarding a sexting investigation:

• Exercise your right to remain silent. Politely decline to answer questions until you have a lawyer present.
• Hire a criminal defense attorney experienced in Colorado juvenile law before making any statements.
• Do not delete evidence once an investigation has started, as this can result in charges for tampering with physical evidence.
• Do not contact the other party involved, as this may be viewed as witness tampering.
• Stay off social media. Do not post about the situation online.

More Colorado Laws

• Colorado Age of Consent Laws
• Colorado Deepfake Laws
• Colorado Expungement Laws

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a teenager be charged with a felony for sexting in Colorado?

In most cases, no. If the teen's conduct falls within C.R.S. § 18-7-109 (the juvenile sexting statute), they are protected from prosecution under the distribution and possession/viewing provisions of the child exploitation law (§ 18-6-403(3)(b) and (3)(b.5)). That protection does not cover causing or inducing a child to engage in explicit conduct, or possession with intent to sell or distribute. Prosecutors may also pursue the more serious statute if the conduct involves aggravating factors like coercion or mass distribution, or if the depicted person is under 14 and the age gap exceeds four years.

What happens if I receive an unsolicited explicit image and delete it right away?

Colorado law provides a 72-hour safe harbor. If you take reasonable steps to destroy or delete the image within 72 hours of first viewing it, or report it to law enforcement or a school resource officer within that timeframe, you have not committed the offense of possession under § 18-7-109.

Does Colorado require sex offender registration for teen sexting?

Typically, no. The juvenile sexting statute (§ 18-7-109) was specifically designed to avoid sex offender registration for teens. The civil infraction and petty offense tiers carry no registration requirement. Even the misdemeanor tiers for posting do not automatically trigger registration. Registration applies primarily to adult convictions under § 18-6-403.

Can I be charged for creating or sharing an AI-generated deepfake nude?

Yes. Under SB 25-288, which took effect August 6, 2025, disclosing a realistic AI-generated intimate depiction of an identifiable person without their consent is a Class 1 misdemeanor (up to 364 days in jail). It is a Class 6 felony only if the actor disclosed the depiction and the disclosure posed an imminent and serious threat to the depicted person's safety or their immediate family's safety, and the actor knew or reasonably should have known of that threat. Adults are charged under C.R.S. § 18-7-107; juveniles are charged under C.R.S. § 18-7-109, which the same bill amended to cover intimate digital depictions. Victims can also sue for the defendant's monetary gain plus either actual damages or $150,000 in liquidated damages, whichever is greater.

What is the difference between revenge porn and teen sexting charges in Colorado?

Revenge porn (§ 18-7-107), renamed in 2025 to disclosing a private intimate image or intimate digital depiction for harassment, applies to actors who are 18 or older and who disclose or threaten to disclose an intimate image or digital depiction without the depicted person's consent, either with intent to harass, intimidate, or coerce them or knowing they expected the image to remain private, where the disclosure causes physical, emotional, or reputational harm. It is a Class 1 misdemeanor for adults, elevated to a Class 6 felony if the disclosure poses an imminent safety threat. Teen sexting (§ 18-7-109) applies only to juveniles under 18 and uses a tiered system ranging from a civil infraction ($50 fine) to a Class 1 misdemeanor, depending on the nature of the conduct. A teenager could potentially face charges under either statute depending on the circumstances.