In Colorado, a man who rapes a child — as long as it is just once — can get probation. As in, walk right out of the courtroom after conviction. But it is much worse than that. If that same man goes on to rape nine other children, as long as he only rapes them each once, that child rapist is also eligible for probation. That statement remains true even if the child rapist is a teacher, member of clergy, sports coach or any other person in a position of trust in relation to those children.

That outcome should never happen again. Colorado’s offender-friendly legislature has shown no interest in providing the promise of prison for child rapists.

Enter state Rep. Brandi Bradley from Douglas County. Bradley has been a champion of bringing greater accountability to those who victimize children. Last year, she co-sponsored a bipartisan bill with Democrat state Rep. Regina English and state Sen. Kevin Van Winkle, also from Douglas County, to mandate those who prostitute children or commit crimes related to child prostitution go to prison.

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Currently, Colorado law permits those who seek to use our children for sex-driven profit to be probation-eligible when convicted. Parents see schools, playgrounds, churches and athletic teams as safe places for their children to learn and grow. Some see them as places to become aroused and live out their sexual fantasies on those same kids. This law would guarantee that latter group, the sexual deviants, cannot go from conviction to our malls and neighborhoods. Who could be against such a common-sense, justice-driven bill that seeks to punish those monsters? The Democrats.

The House leadership (all Democrats) assigned last year’s bill to the “kill committee,” the State, Civic, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, where it died on a party-line vote. All eight Democrats, including all-star offender defenders named Epps, Woodrow and Willford, voted to keep the potential consequences for child prostitution unjustifiably low. As a result, the monsters can still get probation.

This year, the child-championing bipartisan duo of Bradley and English have introduced HB 25-1073, “Protections Against Child Rape.” The bill is as straightforward as it is righteous: no person who rapes a child should be able to avoid prison. If passed, it will foreclose any “whoops, I had sex with my student (child parishioner, neighbor girl, kid camper, etc.), but I’m really a good guy” argument. For child rapists, lottie, dottie, everybody (Army saying)  goes to prison.

This is how disconnected one party is from Colorado and reality: the Democrats in our legislature will spend more words, effort and energy ensuring kids can lop off their genitals and men can use the women’s bathroom, than they will ensuring prison for men who rape little boys and girls.

When it comes to claiming to protect women, the interest of the Democrats in the legislature stops at the womb. In addition to continuing to allow rapists of women to remain probation eligible, they are poised to kill HB 25-776, a bill that seeks to promise prison to those men who strangle women — usually (but not exclusively) in a domestic violence context. Currently, those who strangle women can receive probation for their second-degree assault conviction. State Rep. Tony Hartsook and state Sen. Lisa Frizell, who — like Bradley — hail from Douglas County, seek to improve the law so someone using their hands as deadly instruments to strangle someone should be treated the same as someone who uses a gun, knife or other deadly weapon to injure someone. Remember the legislature demonstrated their recognition of how dangerous and potentially lethal strangulation is when they outlawed (in 2020) the use of choke holds by law enforcement, even when their intent is to merely subdue a criminal.

Frizell and Hartsook also seek to provide greater protection to nurses and other medical staff when they are assaulted during the provision of medical services. Unless the assault takes place during a life-saving measure, the current law treats it as just a misdemeanor. Medical personnel should receive the same protection from the law whether they are providing routine care or emergency services. This is a no-brainer.

So is their proposed change to the law that currently permits only a misdemeanor charge against someone who injures a police officer while fleeing from their apprehension, unless it can be proven the runaway criminal actually intended to hurt the officer. “I was just trying t get away,” they claim. That is nonsense. This needed change in the law protects our protectors by permitting a felony charge if the fleeing bad guy acted knowingly.

Where is governor wannabe and current Attorney General Phil Weiser on this legislation? The self-proclaimed “top law enforcement officer” in Colorado (the law says he isn’t) is as silent on this as he was when fentanyl was reduced to a mere misdemeanor as it killed thousands. After the public humiliation of wasting untold tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars failing to convict police officers for the death of Elijah McClain, Weiser could use a public safety win. These bills are easy to get behind… unless someone running for state office is scared of the offender-friendly progressives in their party.

These needed policy changes are so easy to get behind, I predict they will find a smooth path to end-run the legislature’s partisan failure to act through our petition process. It has proven a successful vehicle to make popular changes to the law when the politically elite under the Gold Dome refuse to act. Watch for these proposed laws to appear on your ballot in the 2026 election — the same ballot with Weiser, the state legislature, and all other Democrat candidates for offices, such as U.S. Senate and Congress.

George Brauchler is the 23rd Judicial District attorney and former district attorney for the 18th Judicial District. He has served as an Owens Early Criminal Justice Fellow at the Common Sense Institute. Follow him on Twitter (X): @GeorgeBrauchler.