Colorado voters approve ballot measure requiring life in prison for child sex traffickers

Colorado voters Tuesday approved a ballot measure requiring people convicted of child sex trafficking to be sentenced to life in prison without any chance of parole — a change that was rejected by state lawmakers earlier this year.

The Associated Press projected at 9:08 p.m. that Proposition 133 would pass, when 61.4% of tabulated voters were in favor of the measure and 38.6% were opposed. The initiative only needed to win majority support to pass because it changes state statute.

The previous penalty for anyone convicted of child sex trafficking was eight to 48 years in prison plus mandatory parole. 

The new law, which takes effect Jan. 1, also expands the definition of human trafficking of a minor for sexual servitude to include trading anything of monetary value to buy or sell sexual activity with a minor. Previously it was defined to include selling, recruiting and transporting a minor for commercial sexual activity. 

Proposition 133 mirrors a bill sponsored by state Rep. Scott Bottoms, a Colorado Springs Republican, which was rejected by Democrats in a House committee this year. 

A group called Protect Kids Colorado led a mostly grassroots effort to collect enough signatures to get Proposition 133 on the ballot along with two other ballot proposals focused on transgender children — Propositions 134 and 135. 

The Protect Kids Colorado issue committee supported propositions 133, 134 and 135. It raised about $300,000, including $100,000 from the nonprofit Athletes for Action, which says it’s focused on protecting girls and women in sports. Other major donors to the group include the Church for All Nations and Pikes Peak Citizens for Life in Colorado Springs; Jeff Coors of the Coors brewing family; and the Protect Kids Colorado nonprofit.

Proposition 133 was also supported by Colorado’s Catholic bishops.

Backers of the initiative said imposing life sentences for child sex trafficking would stop offenders from hurting more children and deter people from committing the crime. 

But groups that work with crime victims, including the Colorado Coalition Against Sexual Assault and the the Rocky Mountain Victim Law Center, opposed Proposition 133 because they said victims of child sex trafficking who are coerced into helping exploit other children would also face life sentences if convicted. State law allows victims to show they were pressured to participate but victim advocates say they don’t always have evidence to prove that.

Proposition 133 was also opposed by abortion rights advocates, who fear its expanded definition of trafficking could be interpreted to mean providing transportation or paying for lodging for an abortion. People could be reluctant to help a minor get an abortion because of the fear of prosecution and possible life sentence, Kiera Hatton Sena, political director for Cobalt Advocates, said during a news conference in September. 

Vote Common Sense, an issue committee formed to fight an array of conservative ballot measures this year, spent against propositions 133, 134 and 135. It raised about $1.1 million this year, much of it from the Green Advocacy Project; Denver philanthropist Merle Chambers; and the Colorado Fund for Children and Public Education, which is tied to the state’s largest teachers union.

Erin Lee, executive director of Protect Kids Colorado, said any claim the measure could be used to target those helping minors get abortions was “patently false.”

The new law will require the state to spend more money on prisons starting in about 14 years as people who would have received shorter sentences for child sex trafficking remain in prison, according to nonpartisan legislative fiscal analysts.

The analysts estimate that mandatory life sentences will require the state prison system to spend an extra $180,000 starting in 2041. That amount is expected to grow to an extra $540,000 in 2043 before leveling off because of inmates dying or potentially receiving a commutation or pardon.

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