Senate Judiciary hears emotional testimony on bill to raise penalties for adults who buy sexual activity from children; sponsors lay the measure over for redraf

Senate Judiciary took testimony on Senate Bill 15 on Feb. 9, a proposal that would change how Colorado law treats adults who knowingly buy sexual activity from minors by modernizing statutory language and creating a mandatory sentencing floor for such offenses.

Sponsor testimony and prosecutors said the bill fixes a gap in current law that can permit buyers of children to receive probation in some cases. "This bill ... establishes a mandatory minimum sentence when an adult knowingly purchases a minor for [commercial sexual] acts," the sponsor told the committee during opening remarks, arguing judges would still retain discretion to sentence above the floor but not to treat the baseline as optional.

Why it matters: prosecutors and victim advocates said the change is aimed at disrupting the demand that fuels trafficking. Brian Mason, district attorney for Colorado’s 17th Judicial District, described how traffickers groom vulnerable children and then sell a child to a buyer who pays for repeated abuse. "We cannot stop the abuse without also stopping the abusers," Mason told the committee.

Survivors who testified described long-term trauma and urged lawmakers to hold buyers to account. Cameron Finingsmeyer, who said they were trafficked at 16, told the committee: "The longer I was trafficked, the more I found myself disassociating ... That buyer showed no remorse, and he continued to purchase me knowing that even if he were caught, nothing of real consequence would happen to him."

Opposition and safeguards: civil-rights and defense witnesses, including the ACLU of Colorado and Colorado Public Defender representatives, opposed mandatory minimums. Arianne Frosh of the ACLU said SB15 "perpetuates mass incarceration, impermissibly divests key judicial authority, and prevents the individualized review of mitigating circumstances." Several defense attorneys and survivor-advocates warned the bill as drafted could sweep in people who are coerced or otherwise victimized, particularly 18- and 19-year-olds who were trafficked as minors.

Committee questions focused on the bill’s mens rea (whether prosecutors must prove a defendant 'knowingly' purchased a child), the potential availability of a rebuttal or affirmative defense for victims coerced into committing related acts, and the fiscal note. Sponsors and staff cited the fiscal estimate that, on average, about 25 people per year currently receiving probation for these convictions would instead receive Department of Corrections time under the bill’s changes.

What did not happen: after hours of oral testimony from survivors, prosecutors, county officials, service providers, law enforcement and defense advocates, the committee did not vote on SB15. Members indicated there were drafting issues to resolve (notably language about "offering or agreeing" to commercial activity and how an immunity or affirmative defense would operate for trafficked persons). The sponsors asked for time to work through amendments and the committee laid the bill over for further drafting.

Next steps: SB15 was not voted on; sponsors said they would return with clarified amendment language. The committee has signaled it may take the bill up again after redrafting and will seek to balance accountability for buyers with safeguards for people who were trafficked and coerced into criminal conduct.

Reported by the Senate Judiciary hearing record on Feb. 9, 2026. The committee's witness record included prosecutors from the 17th and 23rd judicial districts, numerous survivor advocates, county officials, law enforcement investigators, defense bar representatives and civil-liberties organizations. The bill was laid over for amendment; no final committee vote was taken on the merits.