In the state of Colorado, there are several laws governing the options available to sexual assault survivors. These laws are required by the federal Violence Against Women Act, and are important for you to understand if you will be assisting a survivor of sexual assault with navigating their next steps.

Under Colorado law (Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-3-407.5 (3)), adult survivors (ages 18-69), who do not have a documented intellectual or developmental disability, have three options when seeking a medical forensic exam:

1. Anonymous report
2. Medical report
3. Law enforcement report

In all cases, the survivor decides whether they would like evidence collected. The decision is completely up to the survivor, not the medical facility or law enforcement agency. A survivor of sexual assault should NEVER be billed for the evidence collection portion cost of a medical forensic exam (MFE). If a survivor of a sexual assault contacts your law enforcement agency, it is important everyone has this information.

In options (1) Anonymous Report and (2) Medical Report, a survivor can seek medical care, have evidence collected, and not be required to work with or even speak to a law enforcement officer.

In option (3) Law Enforcement Report, a survivor can seek medical care, have evidence collected, and choose to work with and speak to a law enforcement officer. The term “reporting” is used for all these options, but only one of them means a survivor is formally reporting their assault experience to you, the law enforcement officer.

For each of the three options, the survivor will be asked to sign a consent form indicating the reporting option they are choosing as well as their consent to test the sexual assault evidence kit at an accredited crime lab.

In the next section, we outline each of the three Colorado reporting options mandated by federal and state law:

Anonymous Report

If survivors choose this option, their name is not written on the outside of the sexual assault evidence collection kit. Their identity remains anonymous to law enforcement.

With this option, a survivor’s evidence collection kit will not be submitted for DNA testing at a crime lab. Instead, the evidence will be stored at the law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction where the crime occurred for at least the statute of limitations (20 years for felony sex assault) (Colo. Rev. Stat. 18-3-407.5 (3) (c)).

If the jurisdiction is not known, the kit will be stored by the law enforcement agency in the SANE or FNE program’s jurisdiction.

Survivors are provided a unique identifying number (usually a law enforcement case number) when they report this way, enabling them to retrieve their sexual assault evidence collection kit at a later date, if they decide they would like to work with law enforcement on their case. This number should also be written in their medical file, in case the survivor loses it. Given what we know about memory and trauma, doing this allows the survivor to call the SANE or FNE program they visited to retrieve the number if they are ready to talk with law enforcement down the road.

Medical Reporting

A survivor reports their experience to law enforcement, but requests law enforcement does not investigate the assault at this time.

This option, sometimes called non-investigative reporting, allows survivors to have a medical forensic exam, including evidence collection if they would like, without working with law enforcement. It also allows survivors to whether or not they want to have their evidence tested at an accredited crime lab.

With this option, if you are the responding law enforcement officer, you will be given the survivor’s name and contact information. Survivors do not have to speak with you if they do not want to. It is important you honor the survivor’s request if they do not wish to speak with you nor share details of their assault experience.

It is understandable why you want to learn more about the crime and work on apprehending the offender. However, requiring a survivor to speak with you can be extremely detrimental to their perception of law enforcement and may actually harm the chances they engage with an investigation at a later time.

You certainly can request the nurse offer your business card to the survivor or to share with the survivor you would like to introduce yourself, but you cannot require it.

A medical reporting sexual assault evidence collection kit must be sent for testing at an accredited crime lab within 21 days of its receipt by the law enforcement agency (Colo. Rev. Stat. §24-33.5-113), unless the survivor does not give or withdraws their consent for testing. By law, you are required to notify survivors when the kit has been submitted, when results come back, if there is a DNA match, 60 days prior to destruction of kit, and if the status of the case changes.

Often, the testing results of the sexual assault evidence kit can factor heavily in a survivor’s decision to move forward with an investigation. It is really important that detectives or victim advocates call survivors with the results on the analysis when they are received from the crime lab.

If the survivor does not consent to testing, the kit should be stored by the law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction where the crime occurred for at least the statute of limitations (20 years for felony sex assault) (Colo. Rev. Stat. 18-3-407.5 (3) (c)). If the jurisdiction is not known, the kit will be stored by the law enforcement agency in the SANE or FNE program’s jurisdiction.

Law Enforcement Report

A survivor chooses to speak with a law enforcement officer, make a formal report, and work with you on an investigation

The law enforcement agency where the crime occurred is obligated to pay for the evidence collection portion of the medical forensic exam (Colo. Rev.Stat. §18-3-407.5(1)).

This is the reporting option you will be most familiar with given your role. It involves the survivor speaking with you at the hospital if you are the responding officer. Depending on your agency’s policies, the survivor may also speak with a sex crimes detective and a law enforcement victim advocate at the hospital. With this option, the survivor is willing to work with law enforcement on an investigation, including participating in a follow up interview with the detective a few days later. Providing victim advocacy services to survivors who choose this option will greatly increase the likelihood they will continue to participate in the ongoing investigation.

With this option, the kit must be sent for testing at an accredited crime lab within 21 days of its receipt by the law enforcement agency (Colo. Rev. Stat. §24-33.5-113), unless the survivor does not give or withdraws their consent for testing. By law, you are required to notify survivors when the kit has been submitted, when results come back, if there is a DNA match, 60 days prior to destruction of kit, and if the status of the case changes.

If the survivor does not consent to testing, the kit should be stored by the law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction where the crime occurred for at least the statute of limitations (20 years for felony sex assault) (Colo. Rev. Stat. 18-3-407.5 (3) (c)). If the jurisdiction is not known, the kit will be stored by the law enforcement agency in the SANE or FNE program’s jurisdiction.