Two bills against acts relative to sexual assaults by adults in positions of authority or trust are on the docket for this year’s legislative session.
SD 1367 and HD 2209, if passed in the legislature, will combat the current consent loophole in the law that has allowed for adults, like teachers or coaches, to take advantage of children, since the legal age of consent in Massachusetts is 16.
These bills state that no child can consent in a situation where the other individual in this scenario is an adult who has power over them.
“For far too long, this gap in our law has allowed perpetrators to exploit children we entrust them to care for them, to help in their development, to be in environments where they are supposed to be kept safe — and we see all too often where that does not happen, so this legislation closes that gap,” said Sen. Joan B. Lovely.
“Protecting children is not just a policy priority. It’s our obligation. It’s our responsibility. No one in a position of power over a minor should be able to manipulate, groom or assault them and then claim consent as a defense,” she continued. “With this legislation, we are making it clear that if you commit these crimes, there will be no easy way out. The penalties this legislation proposes are strong, the sentences are mandatory and the justice system will be empowered to seek justice for the often lifelong harm that these instances have on these individuals.”
The penalties for committing such acts of sexual abuse are imprisonment for varied sentence times depending on the age of the child assaulted.
For adults in trusted authority positions who commit indecent assault and battery on a child who is aged 14-18, the penalty outlined in these bills is “imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 10 years, or by imprisonment in the house of corrections for not more than 2.5 years.”
For those who commit indecent assault and battery on a child who is under the age of 14, the penalty is “imprisonment in the state prison for life or for any term of years, but not less than 10 years,” and “the sentence imposed on such person shall not be reduced to less than 10 years, or suspended, nor shall any person convicted under this section by eligible for probation, parole, work release or furlough or receive any dedication to his or her sentence for good conduct until he or she shall have served 10 years of such sentence.”
Lovely mentioned that, according to ENOUGH ABUSE, 39 other states and the District of Columbia have already passed protections for children in regards to sexual abuse by people in positions of authority that include school personnel.
ENOUGH ABUSE Executive Director Jetta Bernier – who is also the executive director of Massachusetts Citizens for Children, also known as “MassKids” – pointed out that statistics show that “we’re going in the wrong direction.”
A 2004 study done by Dr. Charol Shakeshaft indicated that almost 10%, nearly one in 10, children across the country in public schools were the victims of sexual misconduct and abuse. Yet a 2023 survey using data from 6,000 recently graduated high school students found that nearly 12%, which is one in 8.5 students, described having had some inappropriate sexual contact in their school with an adult sometime between kindergarten and 12th grade.
When Berkshire District Attorney Timothy J. Shugrue began his career, he specialized in the prosecution of child sexual abuse cases. He said sexual abuse of children was a “taboo topic” in the mid-80s that was hardly discussed, let alone prosecuted.
“It’s deeply troubling and frankly enraging that we find ourselves here today, still fighting to protect children from sexual abuse,” he said. “How can it be that in a forward thinking state like Massachusetts, we still lack laws that fully protect minors from sexual assault, particularly from adults in positions of trust and authority?
“In what world can a 16 year old truly consent to sex with a teacher, a coach or any adult in a position of authority and trust? I believe that such consent does not exist. By passing this legislation, we will empower prosecutors to hold predators accountable.”
Rep. Leigh Davis said that “a system that allows adults in positions of power to exploit young people and escape accountability is a broken system.”
“As a legislator, former educator and a mother, including to a teenage daughter, I refuse to accept a legal system that protects predators instead of children,” she said. “No child should ever hear the law won’t protect them. No survivor should ever be told their abuser walks free because our laws have failed them.
“The time to act is now. Every day we delay, more children are at risk.
“I urge the people of the Commonwealth to call their legislators and ask them to support HD 2209 and SD 1367 — and to my colleagues in the legislature, let this be the session where we stand together with survivors, families and every young person in the Commonwealth. Let us not wait for another survivor to be told their abuser has walked free. We are close to the finish line. Let’s cross it together. Let’s pass this bill and protect our kids.”
