Legislature revisits bills to criminalize sexual misconduct by school staff

After years of stalled attempts, Massachusetts lawmakers are inching closer to passing a bill that would prohibit sexual relationships between school staff and students as young as 16.

The state remains one of 11 nationwide that does not criminalize sexual misconduct between staff and students who are 16 and 17 years old. For more than a decade, legislators have filed bills to address the issue, but none have become law. 

Now, a pair of bills moving through the House and Senate are leaving some advocates and legislators hopeful for their passage.

Recently, a bill filed by Sen. Joan Lovely, D-Salem, saw progress in the Senate. It would raise the age of consent to 18 in cases involving adults in positions of trust or authority, address the definition of “position of trust or authority” and amend sentencing procedures. 

Lovely said she hopes it will fix what advocates call the “consent loophole” in the state. There is no statute that penalizes relationships between consenting-age students and adults working in schools. Advocates say this creates a way for employees to groom young teens and initiate a sexual relationship once they reach 16 — the legal age of consent in Massachusetts.

“People say, ‘It can’t be my favorite teacher, or my favorite coach, or my favorite priest, or my favorite friend,’ whoever it might be, and years later they find out that it was — and so for this particular bill, we want to stop that in its tracks,” said Lovely.

The bill was reported favorably out of the Senate Judiciary Committee in July and is awaiting review by the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

Sen. Michael Rodrigues of Westport, who chairs the committee, did not respond to The Light’s three requests for comment on the bill’s future.

Lovely, who has been filing similar legislation since 2015, said she is optimistic that her efforts are working, even if it is taking time to convince her colleagues of the urgency of the topic.

Last session, an identical version of this bill failed to become law. Some advocates and legislators worry that could happen again this session. 

Sen. Mark Montigny of New Bedford, a cosponsor of Lovely’s bill, said in an email to The Light that while he is encouraged by the favorable committee report, “there is still a tremendous amount of work that must be done to break through the inexcusable inertia on Beacon Hill.”

“I will continue to support this bill and Senator Lovely’s efforts to deliver it to the Governor’s desk, which should have happened years ago,” said Montigny.

For over a year, Jennifer Cullen has been walking the halls of the Statehouse on some of her days off, hoping to find a legislative ear. She said it has been very difficult to get state representatives to speak to her. It has made her wonder: “How important do they think this is?”

Cullen’s nephew, Jacob Pothier, was killed in a car crash in January 2024. Kathleen Martins, who was also in the car, was critically injured. Pothier was 18, and Martins was 44. Martins had been a security guard at Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School while Potheir was a Voc-Tech student. They were involved in a sexual relationship, according to Pothier’s relatives, who believe it started when he was 16.

“There needs to be some real reform with this bill,” said Cullen. “My nephew was 8 years old when this issue came into consideration. I don’t know if it would have changed him being dead … but he could have been protected.”

Cullen also said the bill needs “teeth.” Passing the bill should be a priority, she said. But it needs to cover a more specific range of protections and consequences to make it easier to enforce.

House companion bill gets redraft

In September, a House companion bill to Lovely’s initiative was redrafted by the Judiciary Committee and combined with a series of similar legislation. The committee reported the new bill favorably, and it is now before the House Ways and Means Committee.

Rep. Leigh Davis, D-Great Barrington, who filed the original companion bill, describes the redraft as an “omnibus child protection bill.” In addition to similar proposals outlined in Lovely’s bill and the original House companion, it would require all K-12 schools in the state to adopt abuse prevention policies and training — specifically reporting and recognition training for staff and students — and require all perpetrators to be included on the sex offender registry. The bill also calls for licenses to be suspended upon conviction.

“It strengthens reference checks and it’s kind of wrapping around, how can we protect our students better?” said Davis. “I’m actually really, really happy about the way that the Judiciary Committee approached this.”

The original version of the bill stated that anyone who is in a position of trust and engages in sexual intercourse with a child who has reached 16, but is not yet 18, could face up to a life sentence. The redraft allows flexibility, stating that anyone over the age of 21 who is in a position of trust or authority and engages in sexual activity with students 16 or younger, will serve five years maximum in a state prison — making it a felony — or 2½ years in a house of correction, with a fine of $10,000. 

The original bill also defined “position of trust, authority and supervision over a child” as anyone who provides instruction or educational services to a child, paid or unpaid. The redraft narrows that definition to school employees only.

Davis said that making the redraft more specific and adding a more comprehensive outline of discipline will help to push the bill forward.

Fall River’s Rep. Carole Fiola also filed legislation that has become part of the redraft. It would require the state to draft a new abuse prevention policy for schools across Massachusetts.

The redraft is in great shape, but needs some tweaks, Fiola said. She said she will suggest implementing plans that have already proven useful, like ones developed by the abuse prevention initiative Safe Kids Thrive.

New Bedford Reps. Mark Sylvia and Steven Ouellette were cosponsors of the original House companion bill and continue to cosponsor the redraft.

The fact that the revised bill was reported favorably out of Judiciary is significant considering how many issues die in any committee before they can see the same action, said Sylvia. He said he appreciates constituents’ concerns about the drawn-out timeline these bills have historically seen, but believes their recent movement is a good sign.

“The legislative process, probably for all of us, can take longer than maybe we wish,” said Sylvia. “But in most cases that’s intentional, so that we’re making sure that the issues and concerns that are raised are addressed through the process.”

Similarly, Ouellette stressed that the process is necessary but mentioned that in addition to protecting children, new legislation must consider how it will affect any person in a position of trust or authority over a child.

“You’ve got to be very careful how you go public with this, because people are going to attack anybody that there’s possible interaction with children that’s improper,” said Ouellette. “Unfortunately, the wheels of justice turn slow sometimes.”

Lovely, Sylvia and Ouellette said they have not heard any opposition to the bill. Davis said that since the Senate bill was passed as-is, unlike her House companion, it still includes broad sentencing provisions which were amended in the House redraft, which she has heard opposition to from some constituents.

There is currently no further action scheduled for either bill. For the bills to become law, both the House and Senate Ways and Means committees must review the bills and decide to send them to the full chambers for deliberation. If both chambers pass the legislation, it would be up to Gov. Maura Healey to sign them into law.

Cullen said she will never stop pushing for change and fighting for justice for her nephew, regardless of how long it takes.

“I think Jacob would have protected his siblings from any of this. He would have never let this happen to them,” said Cullen.

Isabelle Oss is a graduate student in journalism at Boston University, covering state government for The Light as part of the Boston University Statehouse Program.