Mass. lawmakers to close age of consent loophole for mandated reporters
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Beacon Hill lawmakers are poised to pass new criminal provisions to stop teachers, coaches, police officers and other mandated reporters from using their positions of trust to sexually exploit children.
Why it matters: The change responds to outcries from survivors who argued state law fails to account for the power imbalance between minors and adults who supervise them, even after that authority formally ends.
- The age of sexual consent in Massachusetts remains 16 years old.
State of play: The new "indecent assault on a child" provisions say a child under 18 cannot legally consent to sexual conduct with a defendant who was a mandated reporter.
- Mandated reporters who have, or previously had, custodial or supervisory authority over a 16- or 17-year-old now face up to 20 years in state prison for sexual intercourse with that child.
Between the lines: The statute closes what advocates called a loophole in the law.
- The change means defendants can no longer argue their supervisory relationship with a victim had ended.
- As long as the child was still a minor when the offense occurred, they can be charged with indecent assault.
Yes, but: The law carves out an exception for relationships between parties close in age, exempting defendants who were no more than four years older than the child at the time of the alleged offense.
What's next: The provisions follow public pressure tied to cases including abuse allegations at Miss Hall's School, as reported by WCVB, and years of calls for stronger legal protections against authority figures.
- They are included in the budget bill that's all but finalized and set for the governor's signature this month.