ARTICLE 6
| Jurisdiction | Colorado |
Editor's note: This title was repealed and reenacted in 1971. For historical information concerning the repeal and reenactment, see the editor's note following the title heading.
18-6-201. Bigamy.
18-6-202. Marrying a bigamist - repeal. (Repealed)
18-6-203. Definitions.
18-6-301. Incest.
18-6-302. Aggravated incest.
18-6-303. Sentencing.
18-6-401. Child abuse - definition.
18-6-401.1. Child abuse - limitation for commencing proceedings - evidence - statutory privilege.
18-6-401.2. Habitual child abusers - indictment or information - verdict of the jury.
18-6-401.3. Video tape depositions - children - victims of child abuse.
18-6-401.4. Payment of treatment costs for the victim or victims of an act of child abuse.
18-6-402. Trafficking in children. (Repealed)
18-6-403. Sexual exploitation of a child - legislative declaration - definitions.
18-6-404. Procurement of a child for sexual exploitation.
18-6-405. Reports of convictions to department of education.
18-6-601. Harboring a minor.
18-6-701. Contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
18-6-800.3. Definitions.
18-6-801. Domestic violence - sentencing.
18-6-801.5. Domestic violence - evidence of similar transactions.
18-6-801.6. Domestic violence - summons and complaint.
18-6-802. Domestic violence - local board - treatment programs - liability immunity - repeal. (Repealed)
18-6-802.5. Domestic violence - treatment programs.
18-6-803. Commission - manual of standards for treatment of domestic violence perpetrators - repeal. (Repealed)
18-6-803.5. Crime of violation of a protection order - penalty - peace officers' duties - definitions.
18-6-803.6. Duties of peace officers and prosecuting agencies - preservation of evidence.
18-6-803.7. Central registry of protection orders - creation.
18-6-803.8. Foreign protection orders. (Repealed)
18-6-803.9. Assaults and deaths related to domestic violence - report.
18-6-804. Repeal of part. (Repealed)
18-6-805. Repeal of sections. (Repealed)
■ 18-6-201. Bigamy. (1) Any married person who, while still married, marries, enters into a civil union, or cohabits in this state with another person commits bigamy, unless as an affirmative defense it appears that at the time of the cohabitation, subsequent marriage, or subsequent civil union:
(a) The accused reasonably believed the prior spouse to be dead; or
(b) The prior spouse had been continually absent for a period of five years during which time the accused did not know the prior spouse to be alive; or
(c) The accused reasonably believed that he or she was legally eligible to remarry or legally eligible to enter into a civil union.
(1.5) Any person who is a partner in a civil union, while still legally in a civil union, who marries, enters into another civil union, or cohabits in the state with another person other than a current partner in a civil union, commits bigamy, unless as an affirmative defense it appears that at the time of the cohabitation or subsequent marriage or subsequent civil union:
(a) The accused reasonably believed the prior partner to be dead; or
(b) The prior partner had been continually absent for a period of five years during which time the accused did not know the prior partner to be alive; or
(c) The accused reasonably believed that he or she was legally eligible to marry or legally eligible to enter into a civil union.
(2) Bigamy is a class 2 misdemeanor.
Source: L. 71: R&RE, p. 447, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 40-6-201. L. 89: (2) amended, p. 839, § 76, effective July 1. L. 2016: Entire section amended, (SB 16-150), ch. 263, p. 1081, § 7, effective July 1. L. 2021: (2) amended, (SB 21-271), ch. 462, p. 3191, § 257, effective March 1, 2022.
Cross references: (1) For the "Uniform Marriage Act", see article 2 of title 14; for the "Uniform Dissolution of Marriage Act", see article 10 of title 14.
(2) For the legislative declaration in SB 16-150, see section 1 of chapter 263, Session Laws of Colorado 2016.
Law reviews. For note, "The Presumption of Death and a Second Marriage", see 27 Dicta 414 (1950). For article, "Criminality of Voluntary Sexual Acts in Colorado", see 40 U. Colo. L. Rev. 268 (1968).
Annotator's note. Since § 18-6-201 is similar to former C.L. § 6835, and laws antecedent thereto, relevant cases construing those provisions have been included in the annotations to this section.
"Absent" means being away from the home. The word "absent", as used in bigamy statutes, has been regarded as having such confined and technical meaning as it has in the rule regarding the presumption of death. "Absent" therefore means being away from the home or place where one has established a residence. Schell v. People, 65 Colo. 116, 173 P. 1141 (1918).
Remarriage within statutory period is at party's peril. It is the clear intent of this section that one who marries within the period designated by the statute shall do so at his peril. Schell v. People, 65 Colo. 116, 173 P. 1141 (1918).
But death of former spouse or divorce may validate prior marriage. Upon the dissolution of the subsisting marriage by death or by a competent decree of divorce, an intended marriage contracted in good faith by a party thereto prior to the removal of the disability is rendered valid and binding by the continued cohabitation of the parties to such union, as the original intention to become husband and wife, is presumed to continue so as to effectuate a valid common-law marriage. Davis v. People, 83 Colo. 295, 264 P. 658 (1928).
Cohabitation a question for jury. When acts and complicating circumstances are proved, it becomes largely a question for the jury to determine whether there was in fact such continuation as amounted to a living together. People v. Bright, 77 Colo. 563, 238 P. 71 (1925).
The wife is a competent witness against the husband in a prosecution for bigamy. The offense is construed to be a crime against the wife. Schell v. People, 65 Colo. 116, 173 P. 1141 (1918).
Defense of ignorance that former spouse was living must be established by defendant. Clause of this section concerning knowledge that a former spouse is still living constitutes an exception which it is neither for the information to negative, nor for the prosecution in the first instance to disprove. If defendant relies upon the fact that he did not know that his former wife was still alive, he must produce evidence thereof. Magee v. People, 79 Colo. 328, 245 P. 708 (1926).
Spouse held not absent. Defendant deserted his family, leaving them in Nebraska, in 1903, where they continued at their then residence until 1913. Defendant's second marriage occurred in less than two years after the first wife's departure from the former matrimonial domicile. While remaining at such former domicile the first wife was not "absent", within the meaning of this section, and a conviction was affirmed. Schell v. People, 65 Colo. 116, 173 P. 1141 (1918).
Information that follows this section is sufficient. An information which describes the offense in the language of this section, or so clearly that what is charged may be readily understood by a jury, is sufficient. Magee v. People, 79 Colo. 328, 245 P. 708 (1926).
■ 18-6-202. Marrying a bigamist - repeal. (Repealed)
Source: L. 71: R&RE, p. 448, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 40-6-202. L. 2021: (2) added by revision, (SB 21-271), ch. 462, p. 3191, 3331, §§ 258, 803.
Editor's note: Subsection (2) provided for the repeal of this section, effective March 1, 2022. (See L. 2021, pp. 3191, 3331.)
■ 18-6-203. Definitions. As used in section 18-6-201, "cohabitation" means to live together under the representation of being married.
Source: L. 71: R&RE, p. 448, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 40-6-203. L. 2021: Entire section amended, (SB 21-271), ch. 462, p. 3192, § 259, effective March 1, 2022.
Term "live together". Under former section proscribing conduct under the term "living together", the term was construed to mean living under the same roof or under such conditions as husband and wife usually live. But occasional acts of clandestine illicit intercourse are not alone sufficient to constitute living together. People v. Bright, 77 Colo. 563, 238 P. 71 (1925) (decided under former C.L. § 6835).
■ 18-6-301. Incest. (1) Any person who knowingly marries, inflicts sexual penetration or sexual intrusion on, or subjects to sexual contact, as defined in section 18-3-401, an ancestor or descendant, including a natural child, child by adoption, or stepchild twenty-one years of age or older, a brother or sister of the whole or half blood, or an uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece of the whole blood commits incest, which is a class 4 felony. For the purpose of this section only, "descendant" includes a child by adoption and a stepchild, but only if the person is not legally married to the child by adoption or the stepchild.
(2) When a person is convicted of, pleads nolo contendere to, or receives a deferred sentence for a violation of the provisions of this section and the victim is a child who is under eighteen years of age and the court knows the person is a current or former employee of a school district or a charter school in this state or holds a license or authorization pursuant to the provisions of article 60.5 of title 22, C.R.S., the court shall report such fact to the department of education.
Source: L. 71: R&RE, p. 448, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 40-6-301. L. 83: Entire section amended, p. 695, § 6, effective June 15. L. 86: Entire section amended, p. 770, § 8 effective July 1. L. 90: Entire section amended, p. 1025, § 7, effective July 1. L. 2000: (2) amended, p. 1847, § 32, effective August 2. L. 2003: (2) amended, p. 2514, § 2, effective June 5.
Law reviews. For article, "Incest and Ethics: Confidentiality's Severest Test", see 61 Den. L.J. 619 (1984).
Annotator's note. Since §...
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