Douglas County backs new Colorado law to combat child exploitation

Douglas County helped turn a local public-safety push into a new Colorado law that stiffens punishment for child exploitation and rewrites the state’s approach to commercial sexual abuse of minors. Commissioner Abe Laydon attended the June 3 bill signing at the Governor’s Mansion as Gov. Jared Polis signed Senate Bill 26-015, a measure county leaders say will change how predators are charged, sentenced and deterred.

The law, titled Commercial Sexual Activity with a Child Offenses, removes the spousal exception from the crime of engaging in commercial sexual activity with a child. It also raises the penalty for internet luring of a child to a class 3 felony when the offense is committed with intent to meet for commercial sexual activity with a child, and requires a court to impose at least the minimum sentence in the presumptive range for that felony. The bill adds elements to the crime of soliciting commercial sexual activity with a child, including knowingly soliciting a child for that purpose, and the fiscal note says it mandates Colorado Department of Corrections sentences for the affected offenses.

For Douglas County, the law is more than a statute. County officials used the signing to highlight a broader anti-trafficking effort that has included support for legislation, law enforcement and survivor-focused advocacy. Laydon said the issue is one of local government’s most important responsibilities, arguing that public officials must protect children from predators who increasingly target them online. He said, “if you come to Colorado to buy children, you’re going to get caught.”

Laydon also traced his advocacy to a church video about trafficking that prompted him to learn more about the scale of the problem. Douglas County said it offered space within the county jail to help avoid a fiscal hit that could have complicated passage of the bill, showing how county resources were part of the policy outcome, not just the politics around it. The county’s earlier 2024 anti-trafficking push also involved county commissioners, the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office and the Douglas County Sheriff.

The timing matters for what happens next. The 2026 General Assembly adjourned sine die on May 13, and because SB26-015 passed without a safety clause, it is set to take effect Aug. 12. That gives prosecutors and law enforcement a new legal framework to use once the law is active, with mandatory prison terms and sex offender registration adding weight to cases that previously could leave room for probation or weaker penalties.

Colorado’s Department of Human Services says child sex trafficking has been reported in all 50 states, including Colorado, and that county human services agencies can help connect survivors to trauma-focused treatment and recovery services. For Douglas County, the message is clear: the county helped shape a law meant to make online exploitation harder to ignore and harder to plead away.