A bill passed by the state House of Representatives last week would enact protections in Massachusetts against “revenge porn” and other forms of image-based assault, potentially bringing Massachusetts in line with nearly every other state in the nation in doing so.
An Act to Prevent Abuse and Exploitation cleared the House in a bipartisan 151-0 vote, with local representatives supporting the legislation. Reps. Jenny Armini, Dan Cahill, Pete Capano, Jessica Giannino, Brad Jones, Sally Kerans, Tom Walsh, and Donald Wong all voted in favor of the bill, which moves to the state Senate for consideration. Should the Senate adopt the legislation, it would be up to Gov. Maura Healey to sign the bill into law.
The bill combines numerous initiatives into one piece of legislation, not just instituting protections for abuse and exploitation but also establishing new protections for survivors. Under current state law, minors who possess, purchase, or share explicit photos of themselves or other minors are charged with violating the state’s child pornography laws and must register as sex offenders. But, the legislation passed last week would allow minors to be diverted to an educational program instead of criminal punishment. District attorneys would still be able to petition the court to bring charges in extreme cases.
The educational diversion program, which would be created by the attorney general’s office in consultation with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Department of Youth Services, and the District Attorneys Association, would provide teens with information about the consequences of sexting. That information would also be made available to school districts.
Armini, who represents Lynn, Marblehead, and Swampscott, specifically highlighted the educational program as a key component of the legislation.
“It says to the teen, ‘You screwed up, but we’re going to show you the consequences and teach you why this is wrong,'” she said in an interview. “In most cases in teen sexting cases, this requires education, not prison time.”
The bill also establishes a penalty for the nonconsensual distribution of explicit images by adults, including up to two-and-a-half years of prison time and/or a fine of up to $10,000. Under the bill, the upper limit of the fine for criminal harassment is increased from $1,000 to $5,000, and victims can petition the court for a harassment prevention order against a person who has violated the law.
The legislation also adds coercive control to the definition of abuse — a section Armini said was added by the house and was not in prior versions of the bill. Coercive control is a “nonphysical form of abuse which includes a pattern of behavior, or a single act intended to threaten, intimated, harass, isolate, control, coerce or compel compliance of a family or household member that causes the family or household member to fear physical harm or to have a reduced sense of physical safety or autonomy,” a statement announcing the bill’s passage said.
“The voices of victims have been heard,” Armini said in the statement.
Cahill and Capano, who both represent Lynn, praised House leadership for getting the bill passed.
“I am very grateful for the leadership of (House) Speaker (Ron) Mariano and the hard work of my House colleagues as we were able to pass a comprehensive piece of legislation that modernizes the law to protect victims and to prosecute those who commit image-based criminal harassment,” Cahill said.
“I am grateful for House Leadership and my fellow members for unanimously passing this important piece of legislation that bans image-based harassment,” Capano said.
Giannino, who represents parts of Saugus and Revere, said the legal system often fails to adequately support victims of domestic violence “facing the hidden agonies of psychological and emotional torment.”
“This legislation empowers law enforcement and the judiciary with essential tools to safeguard those enduring both physical and emotional abuse,” she said. “This bill ensures victims of abuse won’t endure in silence any longer.”
