Most Colorado House Democrats are so extreme in their left-wing ideology they care more about criminals than victims – even young ones who haven’t reached double digits.

No one can honestly dispute this after a vote late last week, in which a heavy majority of House progressives opposed a bill to set more serious penalties for those convicted of sex crimes against children.

The Senate gave unanimous approval to House Bill 1135 on Saturday, after it barely passed the House. Eighteen Democrats voted to protect children, while an alarming 27 voted against them after expressing sympathy for predators (excuse us, we mean “victims of society”).

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They opposed the bill despite sponsorship by three more-balanced legislative Democrats – Reps. Dafna Michaelson and Shannon Bird, and Sen. Rachel Zenzinger.

The bill would make indecent exposure a class 6 felony if committed knowingly in view of a child under 15. Colorado’s minor exposure victims average age 11.

Without the proposed law, which requires Gov. Jared Polis’ signature, grown adults who intentionally expose their genitals to children – even to gratify themselves in front of them – face a misdemeanor. It takes a fourth offense before this crime rises to potential felony status. That means the state tolerates harm against three more children, by a known offender, before taking it seriously.

Colorado has charged at least 90 adults with exposure crimes against children in the past four years. Prosecutors say documented cases are artificially low because children typically feel too ashamed, frightened and/or embarrassed to report them to parents or authorities. Those who muster the bravery to report typically see the suspects walk away.

Legislators heard of a deviant exposing and pleasing himself in front of a father’s two young daughters. Cops issued a misdemeanor summons and set the suspect loose, to the dad’s dismay.

Another father said his two daughters, 14 and 16, were in a parking lot after school when a man confronted them. The suspect raised his pelvis and exposed his genitals, pleasing himself for the girls to see. In typical fashion, because of the soft-on-crime law, police issued a misdemeanor summons and let him go.

Democratic bill sponsor Bird told of a man approaching a 7-year-old constituent at a Westminster Walmart to expose and satisfy himself. Though the suspect faced minor consequences, the girl needs long-term counseling to try resolving night terrors so frightening she sleeps with her parents. The same man was the suspect in another sexual exposure case involving another young girl that day in the same store. Infuriating is not a strong enough word.

For Republican Rep. Brandi Bradley, HB 1135 is personal. She told fellow legislators of a man gratifying himself while holding her hand outside a church when she was 10. Through tears, Bradley told of harboring personal shame for 37 years before she could speak of the crime.

Law enforcement testified about multiple cases involving grown men gratifying themselves in front of children in parks. Because the law treats this as a minor crime, they said, some perpetrators commit these crimes several times each day until convicted four times.

None of the heart-wrenching testimony altered the radical left’s perverse disregard for victims and misplaced compassion for offenders.

Democratic Rep. Elisabeth Epps filibustered the bill for more than three hours. She said misdemeanor penalties are harsh enough – even though they leave suspects to reoffend within the same day.

Boulder Democratic Rep. Judy Amabile said convicts of these “can’t live in most places, you cannot live in any kind of public housing, and you cannot work. These are dire consequences…” These “dire” repercussions probably beat decades of anguish among victims who asked for none of it.

Democrats expressed sympathy for suspects, saying they likely suffer from mental or behavioral disorders. They seem to care little about the lifelong suffering the criminal’s actions force on innocent children.

In opposing this bill, Democrats challenged decency, supporting indecency to showcase what they learned in Sociology for Dummies 101. They show little concern for children harmed by criminals while governing the county’s #1 state for violent crime.

Colorado should be the safest state, not the most dangerous. Above all, the law should protect children by removing those who harm them from sidewalks, parks and other public spaces until they succeed at reform. If signed into law, HB 1135 will move us one small step in the right direction – to the disappointment of 27 Democrats who get feel-good vibes by mollycoddling perverts.

Colorado Springs Gazette Editorial Board