AURORA | A litany of claims from dozens of women across the country who say they were drugged and violated by comedian Bill Cosby have Colorado lawmakers considering removing a statute of limitations on the state’s own felony sexual assault cases.
House Bill 1072, sponsored by Rep. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora, and Sen. John Cooke, R-Greeley, would remove the 10-year limitation on filing sexual assault charges that do not include DNA evidence. The state has no statute of limitations for sex assault charges involving minors.
Fields said she was approached last year by two Colorado women who have accused Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting them in the 1980s who asked her to craft the legislation, but that the bill goes far beyond the Cosby scandal.
“There are other women who have come forward who have nothing to do with the Cosby case,” she said. “Lots of other women beyond the two women who brought it to my attention believe it’s the right thing to do for crime victims.”
The measure if passed, would not be retroactive, and would only be applied to cases that come up after the bill becomes law. That means it would not apply to the Colorado cases against Cosby.
Cooke, who served as Weld County Sheriff prior to being elected to the Senate, said it doesn’t make sense for sex assault charges to have a statute of limitations while murder and kidnapping do not have similar statutes.
Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler said he also supports the measure because of the unique nature of assault cases.
“There may be circumstances where even after 10 years, someone has not mustered the ability to move forward,” said Brauchler, noting that with the majority of sexual assault cases, the victim knows the offender.
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, from 2005 to 2010, 78 percent of sexual violence cases with women involved an offender who was a family member, intimate partner, friend or acquaintance.
Brauchler said he remains uncertain of whether the state should remove the sexual assault statute altogether or extend it.
“It becomes harder for prosecutors to prosecute the farther you get from any crime,” he said. “It becomes harder to defend against allegations too. You count on prosecutors using good sense and ethical obligations. But say you don’t, that’s tough. How do you defend against something that happened or didn’t happen 25 years ago?”
Some of the state’s criminal attorneys have also argued completely removing the statute would put them at a disadvantage, but Brauchler said the statute should at least be extended because the types of cases that could be unearthed would already be difficult to prosecute.
“You’re providing a greater opportunity for justice in recognition of the fact that these cases are so unique,” he said. “Sexual assault is close to a murder of someone’s soul. It impacts everybody differently. We’re creating a unique exception for a unique and outrageous crime.”
Eight states do not have any statute of limitations for prosecuting felony sexual assault and Delaware has no statute of limitation for any sexual offense, according to the National Center for Victims of Crime.
Though more than 50 women have publicly accused the comedian of rape or sexual assault, Cosby is only facing criminal charges in one case out of Pennsylvania, which prosecutors filed just before the 12-year statute of limitations there would have blocked the district attorney from moving forward.
The bill will be heard in the state’s House Judiciary committee Feb. 11.
— The Associated Press contributed to this story.