Colorado § 18-7-501 - Definitions.

§ 18-7-501. Definitions.

As used in this part 5, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) "Child" means a person under the age of eighteen years.

(2) "Harmful to children" means that quality of any description or representation, in whatever form, of sexually explicit nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sadomasochistic abuse, when it:

(a) Taken as a whole, predominantly appeals to the prurient interest in sex of children;

(b) Is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable material for children; and

(c) Is, when taken as a whole, lacking in serious literary, artistic, political, and scientific value for children.

(3) "Knowingly" means having general knowledge of, or reason to know, or a belief or ground for belief which warrants further inspection or inquiry, or both, of:

(a) The character and content of any material described herein which is reasonably susceptible of examination; and

(b) The age of the child; however, an honest mistake shall constitute an excuse from liability hereunder if a reasonable bona fide attempt is made to ascertain the true age of such child.

(4) "Sadomasochistic abuse" means actual or explicitly simulated flagellation or torture by or upon a person who is nude or clad in undergarments, a mask or bizarre costume, or the condition of being fettered, bound, or otherwise physically restrained on the part of one so clothed.

(5) "Sexual conduct" means actual or explicitly simulated acts of masturbation, sexual intercourse, sodomy, or physical contact in an act of apparent sexual stimulation or gratification with a person's clothed or unclothed genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or, if such be female, breast.

(6) "Sexual excitement" means the condition of human male or female genitals when in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal.

(7) "Sexually explicit nudity" means a state of undress so as to expose the human male or female genitals, pubic area, or buttocks with less than a full opaque covering, or the showing of the female breast with less than a fully opaque covering of any portion thereof below the top of the areola, or the depiction of covered or uncovered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state.

Source: L. 81: Entire part added, p. 1004, § 1, effective June 29. L. 2025: (5) amended, (SB 25-298), ch. 298, p. 1522, § 1, effective May 30.

ANNOTATION

Law reviews. For article, "Obscenity Law in Colorado: The Struggle to Pass a Constitutional Statute", see 60 Den. L.J. 49 (1982).