Manny Rutinel wants voters in Colorado’s 8th Congressional District to send him to Washington. Before they make that choice, they should examine the day he helped stop a bill requiring prison time for people convicted of buying, selling, or exploiting children for sex.
On Feb. 15, 2024, Rutinel joined seven other Democrats on the Colorado House State, Civic, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee to block House Bill 1092. The panel rejected sending it forward on a 3-8 vote, then voted 8-3 to indefinitely postpone it.
Rutinel voted against advancement and for burial.
The proposal required at least four years in state prison for several Class 3 felonies involving commercial sex with children. Aggravated pandering involving threats or intimidation would've carried at least eight years. Judges could impose longer terms, but probation would no longer replace incarceration for those convictions.
Rutinel now says he opposed the 2024 bill because he heard concerns that it could punish trafficking victims. Protecting exploited children from prosecution is a valid concern, but his explanation leaves a hard question unanswered.
Why kill the entire bill instead of fixing the language and moving a narrower version forward? From the Free Beacon:
Details of Rutinel’s vote come as the Democrat vies to unseat Republican incumbent Gabe Evans, a former police officer, in Colorado’s Eighth Congressional District, which is expected to be one of the nation’s closest races and could determine which party controls the House. Rutinel has faced heat for a number of other bills that critics say favor criminals, such as his support for legislation that allowed violent offenders to walk free if they were deemed unfit to stand trial for an extended period and taxpayer funding for sex changes for prisoners.
The Gazette delivered a scathing rebuke of Rutinel and the Democrats who voted against the child prostitution bill.
"It seems inconceivable that elected officials would signal Colorado as a friendly state for adults to have sex with children – which is always rape – who are sold by foreign cartels and domestic sociopathic profiteers," the editorial board wrote. The vote is "another sign how out of touch these progressive criminal justice reformers are with the electorate."
Colorado saw the cost of its old system one month later. Daniel Goodfield negotiated online to pay for sex with two girls, including a 14-year-old, then arrived at a hotel where investigators were waiting. He later pleaded guilty to soliciting for child prostitution and cybercrime, receiving intensive probation and a six-year deferred sentence. From KKTV 11:
40-year-old Daniel Goodfield was arrested in March after the sheriff’s office said they conducted an undercover operation to catch him.
“Larimer County Sheriff’s Office investigators conducted an operation targeting child predators,” the sheriff’s office wrote in a news release in March. “Investigators posed as underage sex workers in online forums and were contacted by dozens of men soliciting services. One man arrived at an agreed upon location, where he was met by law enforcement.”
They said Goodfield engaged in conversations online to solicit sex for money. He negotiated sex with two girls, one of the girls 14 years old. The sheriff’s office said when Goodfield arrived at a hotel in Larimer County, they were waiting undercover for him where he was arrested.
“Protecting children is our highest priority in public safety,” said Sheriff John Feyen in March. “Abusing or exploiting innocent victims is never acceptable. LCSO will always stand between children and those who want to harm them.”
The sheriff’s office said Goodfield pleaded guilty to soliciting for child prostitution and cybercrime - soliciting/attempt in October.
He received a ‘Sex Offender Intensive Supervised Probation’ and a six-year deferred sentence in an agreement between the District Attorney and Defense Council, the sheriff’s office said.
Two years later, while running for Congress, Rutinel co-sponsored Senate Bill 15 and voted for it. Gov. Jared Polis signed the bipartisan measure on June 3, and it took effect July 1.
The law modernized Colorado's language, strengthened penalties for several child exploitation crimes, and created a Class 3 felony for internet luring tied to commercial sexual activity.
Rutinel should receive credit for supporting the correction. The correction still stopped short of the 2024 bill on solicitation. A person convicted of soliciting commercial sex with a child can still receive probation, although the court must impose 364 days in county jail as a condition. House Bill 1092 would've required at least four years in state prison.
Colorado lawmakers eventually acted, but families lost two years while the weaker law remained in place. Rutinel's later vote shows he understood stronger penalties were needed. His earlier vote shows he was willing to let a flawed concern sink the whole effort rather than repair it.
Rutinel won the Democratic nomination on June 30 and now faces first-term Republican Rep. Gabe Evans in one of the nation's most competitive House races. Congressional candidates ask voters to trust their judgment before handing them greater power. Rutinel can point to the law he backed in 2026, but he also owns the bill he helped kill in 2024.
A late correction is better than continued refusal. Voters still get to ask why protecting children from convicted sexual predators took Rutinel two tries, two years, and a campaign for Congress.
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