Budget Amendment ID: FY2027-S4-841-R1

Redraft OTH 841

Sexual Assaults by Adults in Positions of Authority or Trust

Ms. Lovely, Messrs. Montigny, O'Connor, Tarr, Collins and Gomez, Ms. Howard and Ms. Edwards moved that the proposed new text be amended in section 2, by inserting after section 3 the following section:

“SECTION 3A. Section 178C of chapter 6 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2024 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the figure “265” in line 73, the following words:- rape of a child who has attained the age of 16 but is under the age of 18 or indecent assault and battery on a child who has attained the age of 14 but is under the age of 18 by a mandated reporter under section 23A1/2 of said chapter 265.”; and

by inserting after section 35 the following section:-

“SECTION 35A. Chapter 265 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 23A the following section:-

Section 23A1/2. (a) Whoever has sexual intercourse or unnatural sexual intercourse with a child who has attained the age of 16 but is under the age of 18, and who exercises or has at any time exercised custodial or supervisory authority over such child as a mandated reporter as defined in said section 21 of said chapter 119, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 20 years; provided, however, that this subsection shall not apply if the defendant was not more than 4 years older than the child at the time of the alleged offense. A prosecution commenced under this subsection shall not be continued without a finding or placed on file.

(b) Whoever commits an indecent assault and battery on a child who has attained the age of 14 but is under the age of 18, and who exercises or has at any time exercised custodial or supervisory authority over such child as a mandated reporter as defined in section 21 of chapter 119, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 10 years, or by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more than 2 ½ years; provided, however, that this subsection shall not apply if the defendant was not more than 4 years older than the child at the time of the alleged offense.

(c) In a prosecution under this section, a child under the age of 18 shall be deemed incapable of consenting to any conduct of the defendant for which such defendant is being prosecuted.

(d) It shall not be a defense to a prosecution under this section that the defendant’s custodial or supervisory authority over the child has ended, if the child is under the age of 18 at the time of the offense.”.