SECTION 1. Chapter 123 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding after Section 36B the following new section:-

Section 37. No child in Massachusetts shall be subjected to any restraint which inhibits normal breathing, or inhibits circulation to an extent which leads to or could reasonably be expected to lead to serious injury.  Any person who willfully or recklessly subjects a child to a restraint which inhibits normal breathing or circulation shall not be considered to be operating within the scope of any license or profession, and may be prosecuted under criminal law.  For the purpose of this section, "recklessly" shall include any instance of restraint where the person or persons performing the restraint had reason to believe the child was having difficulty breathing and continued to restrain the child in a manner that interfered with normal breathing.  The ability of the child to speak shall not be considered evidence that the child’s breathing was uninhibited.