Survivors of sexual assault and abuse in Erie have a civil path to compensation and accountability that runs entirely separate from any criminal case. Colorado eliminated the statute of limitations for sexual misconduct civil claims, and your first conversation with our team is confidential and protected by attorney-client privilege. You control every step. CGH Injury Lawyers serves Erie from our Denver office and handles filings in both the Boulder County and Weld County courts. No fee unless we win.
No fee unless we winIt's More Than Money.
You are in control
There is no obligation and no public record when you reach out. We listen, explain your civil options, and move at a pace that respects you. Nothing happens that you have not chosen.
A civil sexual assault claim gives Erie survivors a path to compensation and institutional accountability that is separate from, and independent of, any criminal proceeding. Colorado courts apply a lower standard of proof in civil cases than in criminal courts, and a civil outcome is entirely your decision, not the state's.
CGH Injury Lawyers represents Erie sexual assault survivors from our Denver office. We handle filings in both the Boulder County Combined Court in Longmont and Weld County District Court in Greeley, negotiate with defendants and their insurers, and prepare every case as if it will go to trial in the appropriate judicial district. Your consultation is free and completely confidential.
Colorado's filing window
Colorado took a definitive step for survivors when it eliminated the statute of limitations for civil sexual misconduct claims. This law exists precisely because many survivors need years, sometimes decades, before they are ready or able to come forward. The removal of the deadline reflects that reality.
If you have assumed a claim is too old, that assumption deserves a confidential review before you accept it. The laws cited here were written to give survivors more time, not less. We will evaluate your specific timeline and tell you honestly where it stands.
Two separate tracks
Many Erie survivors first encounter the justice system through a criminal report to the Erie Police Department, the Boulder County Sheriff, or the Weld County Sheriff. The civil system is a parallel track with different rules, a different standard of proof, and a different purpose. Understanding both matters before you decide how to proceed.
Criminal case
Prosecutors must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The aim is punishment of the offender, which may include jail time or fines. The survivor is a witness, not the party who controls whether charges are filed, pursued, or settled. Even when a case is referred to the Boulder County District Attorney or the Weld County District Attorney, the prosecutor makes the charging decisions, not you.
Civil case
You file the claim, and you decide whether and how to proceed. The standard of proof is preponderance of the evidence: it is more likely than not that the assault occurred and caused your harm. A civil case can succeed even when no criminal charges were filed, when charges were dropped, or when a criminal jury returned a not-guilty verdict. The two outcomes are independent.
For many Erie survivors, a civil claim provides something the criminal system cannot: control. You decide the pace, you decide who is named, and you decide whether to accept a resolution. The goal of a civil case is financial compensation and institutional accountability, not incarceration. Both paths can run at the same time, and choosing one does not foreclose the other.
Institutional accountability
Erie's rapid growth has brought an expanding landscape of schools, youth programs, healthcare providers, employers, and rideshare operators. Organizations that place people in positions of trust with vulnerable individuals carry legal duties. When those organizations fail in those duties and create conditions for assault, they can be held civilly accountable.
Theory of liability
Organizations must conduct reasonable background checks before placing someone in a position of trust with vulnerable people. An Erie school district, youth sports league, or healthcare clinic that hires without checking prior complaints or criminal history can be liable when harm follows.
Theory of liability
Organizations must monitor those they place in positions of authority. When administrators at an Erie employer, program, or facility receive complaints about inappropriate behavior and fail to investigate or act, they share responsibility for what follows.
Theory of liability
When an organization learns of misconduct but keeps a person in a position to cause further harm, it becomes liable for later abuse. This pattern is common where institutions quietly transferred or reassigned a known problem rather than removing access entirely.
Theory of liability
In certain circumstances an employer can bear responsibility for the conduct of an employee within the scope of employment, particularly when the employment relationship itself created the opportunity for the abuse.
We investigate who caused the harm and which organizations created the conditions that allowed it and failed in their duty to protect you. That chain of responsibility determines where meaningful accountability is available and often where the financial resources exist to make a recovery possible.
It is not about reliving what happened. It is about reclaiming control and forcing the institutions that failed you to answer for it.
Erie courts and care
Every element below reflects the actual local landscape your case unfolds in. CGH Injury Lawyers does not have an Erie office. We serve Erie sexual assault survivors from our Denver office and appear in both district courts that serve this community. These are the courts, hospitals, and local context that define how your case proceeds.
Courts: Split County
Erie straddles Boulder and Weld counties, with the dividing line running roughly along County Line Road. A civil sexual assault lawsuit is filed in the district court for the county where the defendant is located, where the harm occurred, or where an institutional defendant maintains its principal office. For Weld County matters, that is the Weld County District Court (19th Judicial District) at 901 9th Ave, Greeley, CO 80631. For Boulder County matters, filings go to the Boulder County Combined Court in Longmont (20th Judicial District) at 1035 Kimbark St, Longmont, CO 80501. CGH Injury Lawyers handles filings in both courts directly and identifies the controlling venue as part of every Erie case intake.
Trauma and Medical Care
Survivors seeking immediate medical care after a sexual assault can access UCHealth Longs Peak Hospital in Longmont, a CDPHE-designated Level III Trauma Center, or Boulder Community Health's Foothills Hospital at 4747 Arapahoe Avenue, Boulder, an American College of Surgeons verified Level II Trauma Center. Sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) programs and forensic exams at these facilities document injuries and preserve evidence that can support a civil case. Medical records, crisis counseling documentation, and psychiatric care records from these or other facilities become the economic foundation of a damages claim.
Community Context
Erie ranked among the fastest-growing communities in the United States in 2025. That growth has brought rapid expansion of schools, youth programs, commercial employers, healthcare clinics, and residential developments along the SH-7 and US 287 corridors. Growth at that pace can outrun the oversight systems that protect community members. New organizations, expanded programs, and quickly hired staff create the conditions where negligent hiring, inadequate supervision, and failure to investigate early complaints are most likely to occur. We investigate those conditions as part of building an institutional liability case for Erie survivors.
Serving Erie
CGH Injury Lawyers has one office, at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205. We do not have a branch office in Erie. We serve Erie sexual assault survivors from Denver, file civil claims in the Boulder County Combined Court in Longmont or in the Weld County District Court in Greeley depending on the facts of the case, and meet clients wherever is most private and convenient. Distance is not an obstacle to full, confidential representation.
Compensation
Colorado law recognizes several categories of damages in civil sexual assault and abuse cases. A civil claim seeks to compensate the real harm you have suffered: the financial costs you have incurred and the human cost of what was done to you.
For claims accruing on or after January 1, 2025, Colorado caps non-economic damages such as pain and suffering at $1,500,000 (C.R.S. 13-21-102.5). Physical impairment and disfigurement damages are not capped at all and represent a separate, uncapped category. Economic damages such as therapy bills, lost wages, and future care costs are never capped. In cases involving institutional cover-ups or deliberate indifference to a known risk, punitive damages may also be available. Colorado allows punitive damages where a defendant acted with fraud, malice, or willful and wanton disregard for others (C.R.S. 13-21-102), and courts may award up to one times the actual damages, with the possibility of increase to three times for continued willful and wanton conduct. When a government entity, such as a public school in Erie, shares liability, CGIA damage caps of $505,000 per person apply for claims accruing on or after January 1, 2026 (C.R.S. 24-10-114), and the 182-day notice requirement under C.R.S. 24-10-109(1) is a threshold requirement.
How it works
Every case is different, and you set the pace. These are the stages most civil claims move through, from a confidential first conversation to resolution in the Boulder County or Weld County court system. You are never required to move faster than you are ready to.
We listen, explain your civil options, and answer your questions at no cost and no obligation. What you share is protected by attorney-client privilege, and there is no public record. For Erie survivors uncertain whether a government entity is involved, we identify that question immediately and explain how it affects any timeline.
We evaluate your situation under Colorado's eliminated statute of limitations for sexual misconduct claims (C.R.S. 13-80-103.7) and determine whether any government entity is involved that triggers the 182-day CGIA notice requirement (C.R.S. 24-10-109(1)). If a government-entity notice is required, we issue it immediately so that window is protected.
Using civil discovery, we obtain records you may not have: complaint histories at the institution, personnel files, organizational policies, background check records, and prior incidents. For Erie institutional defendants, this may include records from school districts, youth program administrators, or employers along the SH-7 and US 287 commercial corridors.
We document the full economic and non-economic harm, including therapy costs, lost wages, and future care needs, and present a documented demand. Most civil sexual abuse cases resolve before trial, often through confidential settlement, which gives the survivor control over the outcome and the terms.
If an institution refuses to be fair, we are prepared to file suit in the appropriate Boulder County or Weld County court and take the case to trial. Courts allow protective measures for sensitive testimony. We prepare you thoroughly before any court appearance, so you are never in a courtroom unprotected or surprised.
There is no right timeline for being ready to move forward. What matters is that when you are ready, you have accurate information about your options and a team that respects your control over every decision.
Your team
CGH Injury Lawyers is a eight-attorney Colorado firm founded in 2016, formerly Cheney Galluzzi and Howard. Managing Partner Kevin Cheney is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and has tried over 25 cases to verdict. Timothy G. Tarr has been recognized by Best Lawyers every year since 2023. We are trial lawyers who handle institutions, and we handle sensitive survivor cases with the discretion, confidentiality, and respect for your control that these cases require.
Frequently asked questions
Colorado eliminated the statute of limitations for civil sexual misconduct claims effective January 1, 2022 (C.R.S. 13-80-103.7). There is no filing deadline. That open window extends to older claims where the original deadline had not yet expired before January 1, 2022, but that analysis is fact-specific to your individual situation. One exception: if a government entity, such as a public school or a county-operated program in Erie, shares liability, a written notice of claim must be delivered within 182 days of discovering the injury (C.R.S. 24-10-109(1)). That government-notice requirement is separate from the eliminated statute of limitations and must be met even when the underlying assault claim has no deadline.
Yes. A civil sexual assault claim is entirely separate from any criminal proceeding. You can file a civil claim whether or not criminal charges were ever brought, whether or not charges were dropped, and even if a criminal jury returned a not-guilty verdict. Criminal cases require proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Civil cases use the lower preponderance-of-the-evidence standard, meaning it is more likely than not that the assault occurred and caused your harm. The two systems run on parallel tracks with independent outcomes. The Boulder County District Attorney and the Weld County District Attorney make charging decisions; you make the decision about a civil claim.
Often, yes. Civil liability for sexual assault frequently extends to organizations that failed to protect you. Erie schools, employers, youth programs, healthcare facilities, and rideshare companies may be held accountable if they were negligent in hiring, failed to investigate prior complaints, or kept a person in a position to cause harm after receiving warning signs. These claims rest on theories of negligent hiring, negligent supervision, negligent retention, or vicarious liability. Holding an institution accountable also tends to produce more meaningful compensation because organizations carry insurance and assets that individuals often do not.
In many sexual abuse cases, courts allow survivors to file under a pseudonym such as Jane Doe or John Doe, so your real name does not appear in public court records at the Boulder County Combined Court in Longmont or the Weld County District Court in Greeley. Courts can also issue protective orders that seal sensitive documents and restrict who may attend depositions. Your initial consultation with us is completely confidential and protected by attorney-client privilege, with no public record of any kind.
A civil claim can recover medical and therapy expenses, lost wages, future care costs, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life. Non-economic damages such as pain and suffering are capped at $1,500,000 for claims accruing on or after January 1, 2025 (C.R.S. 13-21-102.5). Physical impairment damages are not capped at all. Economic damages are never capped. In cases of egregious institutional conduct, punitive damages may also be available under C.R.S. 13-21-102, capped at one times actual damages with the possibility of up to three times for continued willful and wanton conduct. We evaluate every dimension of harm so nothing is left out of your claim.
No. CGH Injury Lawyers has one office, at 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201, Denver, CO 80205. We do not have a branch office in Erie. We serve Erie sexual assault survivors from Denver, file civil claims in the Boulder County Combined Court in Longmont (20th Judicial District) or in the Weld County District Court in Greeley (19th Judicial District) depending on the facts of the case, and meet clients wherever is most private and convenient. Distance is not an obstacle to full, confidential representation.
Erie practice areas
Statewide practice areas
It's More Than Money.
Free, confidential consultation. No fee unless we win. Filing in Boulder County and Weld County courts for Erie survivors.
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