House Judiciary Committee delays ‘Children Are Not for Sale’ bill after contentious hearing

The House Judiciary Committee heard emotional testimony for and against House Bill 26‑1082, the "Children Are Not for Sale Act," and ultimately postponed the legislation indefinitely after the panel failed to advance the measure by a 4‑7 vote and then approved a motion to postpone.

Representative Brocks Bottoms, the bill sponsor, told the committee the measure would reclassify trafficking a child for commercial sexual servitude as a class‑1 felony and impose life imprisonment without parole, saying the change is required because "children are the most innocent among us" and the harm "never leaves a child." He framed the bill as a step to make sentences match the severity of the crime.

Supporters — including survivors, health‑care professionals, faith groups and petition organizers — told the committee that existing penalties and enforcement have failed victims, that plea bargains often reduce prison time for buyers and traffickers, and that Colorado has an outsized trafficking problem. Dr. Karen Pennington, identifying herself as a nursing professor and state director for Concerned Women for America of Colorado, urged the committee to "vote yes on 10 82," citing national trafficking estimates and rising reports in Colorado.

Opponents urged caution on legal and practical grounds. Ariane Frosh of the ACLU of Colorado argued the bill "irresponsibly and unnecessarily increases a criminal penalty" and warned that mandatory life sentences without parole strip judges of discretion. James Karbach of the Office of the State Public Defender said the bill's scope is broad enough to sweep in incidental actors or survivors who are coerced into criminal conduct, and he warned that life without parole is "the harshest sentence for which no circumstances ... can be considered."

Committee members probed sentencing mechanics, parole eligibility and how prosecutors might stack counts for multiple victims. Witnesses and counsel described Colorado's existing statute as expansive: prosecutions can include recruitment, transport, harboring, sale and other acts tied to commercial sexual exploitation, and courts already can and do impose consecutive sentences in complex cases.

After closing remarks, the committee entertained motions. A motion to send HB 26‑1082 to appropriations with a favorable recommendation was made and seconded but failed on a committee roll call (committee announcement recorded the margin as 4 to 7). A subsequent motion to postpone the bill indefinitely — carried by reverse roll call — removed the measure from the committee's active agenda.

The hearing produced a clear divide in approaches: survivors and advocates pressed for tougher punishment and stronger deterrence, while civil‑liberties and criminal‑defense representatives warned the change could create inflexible mandatory punishments, broaden prosecutorial leverage, and harm justice‑system processes for vulnerable people. The committee did not vote on adoption of the bill's text; its decision to postpone leaves the measure inactive for now.

The next procedural step — if sponsors choose to revive the proposal — would be to reintroduce the bill or seek a new referral when and if the sponsor brings it back to committee. For now, the committee adjourned after closing the hearing.