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Thirty-nine states criminalize sexual misconduct between school staff and students who are 16 or 17 years old. Massachusetts, where the age of consent is 16, isn’t one of them. Advocates and some lawmakers have been fighting to address this issue for over a decade, but until now, have seen very little progress.
Last week, the Senate unanimously passed a budget amendment that would change the law.
The amendment would make it a crime for school staff, including teachers, coaches, and counselors, to have a sexual relationship with a 16- or 17-year-old whom they have or previously had authority over. Offenders could face up to 20 years in prison.
It would also criminalize indecent assault and battery — sexual touching — by school staff against minors. Offenders could face up to 10 years in prison.
The amendment would add these offenses to the sex offender registry law. It explicitly says that minors under 18 cannot legally consent in these situations. It includes a “Romeo and Juliet” exception for relationships where the adult is no more than four years older than the minor.
Sen. Joan Lovely, D-Salem, the senator who filed the amendment, has been working to address this issue since 2015. Sen. Mark Montigny, D-New Bedford, co-sponsored the budget amendment, along with similar legislation in the past.
In a written statement to The Light, Montigny said that it’s “unconscionable” that after so many years the state has still not closed the consent loophole, adding that the legislation could save lives.
“No one allowed to work with children, whether paid or unpaid, should ever be allowed to skirt responsibility for this egregious, criminal conduct,” he said. “The insidious actions by groomers often begin the victimization of children at a shockingly young age.”
Lovely told The Light that the amendment is a milestone in her decade-long fight.
“For too many years, I have watched case after case come to light — coaches, teachers, counselors, paraprofessionals — adults entrusted with the care of our children who used that trust as a weapon. And each time, I heard the same painful refrain from prosecutors: our hands are tied,” Lovely said in a written statement. “This historic unanimous vote has been years in the making, and its passage marks a turning point for every student, every family, and every community that has waited far too long for the law to catch up to reality.”
Jetta Bernier, the executive director of Enough Abuse, who has been working on legislation with Lovely for over a decade, said it’s “simply not possible” for there to be mutual consent between a minor and an adult in a position of power. She added that some abusers begin grooming children at a younger age with the intention of entering into a sexual relationship once the child turns 16, when they can no longer be held liable.
New Bedford family pushes for change
Jennifer Cullen has spent the past two years advocating for the legislation. She has written dozens of letters and walked the halls of the Statehouse, searching for any lawmaker willing to listen to her story.
Cullen’s nephew, Jacob Pothier, was killed in a car crash in Dartmouth in January 2024. The other person in the car with Pothier, Kathleen Martins, was critically injured. At the time of the crash, Pothier was 18, and Martins was 44.
Pothier’s relatives say the two were in a sexual relationship that began when Pothier was 16. At the time, Martins was a security guard at Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School, where Pothier was a student. A lawsuit Pothier’s family filed against the school alleges Martins began grooming Pothier when he was 15.
Frustrated by the lack of progress on what she calls a “no-brainer law,” Cullen had just about put her advocacy work on pause when she heard about the Senate amendment. She said the fact that it passed unanimously made it “more promising” than previous versions of the bill.
Like Bernier, Cullen argued that 16-year-olds like Pothier can’t consent to a sexual relationship with an authority figure.
“I think a lot of times people pay more attention to the younger kids, like they’re more vulnerable. But 13 to 18 is a very critical stage of life,” she said. “There are a lot of issues with your self-esteem, body image, so even kids who appear confident could have things that they’re feeling very unsettled about … that puts them at a lot of risk with adults.”
Cullen said that traditional gender roles influenced perceptions of her nephew’s abuse.
“I think that female people in employment are far more trusted than men around children, and so people have a blind spot,” she said.
Cullen remembers Pothier as a “phenomenal athlete” with twinkling blue eyes. He was the first to help a family member in need and was always smiling, she said.
“He was really just a lovely person,” Cullen said with tears in her eyes.
What comes next?
The amendment, along with the rest of the Senate budget, will go to a conference committee with the House. If the amendment is included in the committee’s compromise budget legislation, and both chambers pass it, it will then go to the governor’s desk.
Several New Bedford representatives said they support the amendment.
Rep. Mark Sylvia, D-Fairhaven, and Rep. Steven Ouellette, D-Westport, both co-sponsored the House version of the bill aimed at preventing sexual misconduct in schools. The House has not yet passed the bill, which is a redraft of legislation that closely mirrors the Senate amendment. It has passed the House Judiciary Committee and is pending with the House Ways and Means Committee.
“I think it’s important that a version of this bill passes that addresses this issue,” Sylvia said. “Whether it’s through conference or ultimately through the bills that were filed, I’m hopeful that there is not only forward progression, but momentum on passing language that can help to prevent this from happening again.”
Rep. Christopher Markey, D-Dartmouth, opposed earlier versions of the legislation, arguing that they conflicted with the state’s age of consent laws.
Though he still has reservations, Markey told The Light he would “probably” support the Senate amendment because it specifically targets mandated reporters — people who are legally required to report suspected abuse or neglect. In schools, that includes teachers, administrators, counselors, and attendance officers.
The definition of mandated reporter includes “a person paid to care for or work with a child in any public or private facility.” Montigny’s general counsel, Audra Riding, said she believes this applies to school security guards.
Medical professionals, public safety officers and clergy members who regularly work with children are also mandated reporters.
Previous bills also targeted any adult in a “position of trust, authority or supervision over a child,” which Markey found “subjective.”
“It makes sense that people who know that they’re mandated reporters cannot do these things,” Markey said. “The behavior is absolutely immoral and despicable.”
Rep. Antonio F.D. Cabral, D-New Bedford, said he will advocate for the amendment to be included in the final budget.
“Children deserve to be safe, not just in our schools, but in every space where adults are entrusted with their care,” he told The Light in a written statement.
Rep. Christopher Hendricks, D-New Bedford, is less sure about the amendment. He told The Light that he “absolutely” supports the effort, especially considering Pothier’s death. But he said the best way to address the issue is by raising the age of consent to 18.
Hendricks argued that the amendment will still “afford criminal defendants a constitutional-argument defense” because the age of consent law would be applied differently based on employment status. It could be argued that this is a violation of equal protection, he said.
Bernier, of Enough Abuse, said she is hopeful the amendment will become law, but emphasized that more laws should be put in place to protect minors. She pointed to three bills currently before the House or Senate Ways and Means committees: one aimed at preventing sexual misconduct in schools; another that would eliminate the statute of limitations in child sexual abuse cases; and a third addressing child sexual abuse material, formerly known as child pornography.
“We’re not interested in a crumb. We want the whole pie,” Bernier said. “We want every one of these bills to be passed, and we want to begin implementing these new laws as soon as possible.”
In the meantime, Enough Abuse is focused on creating preventative resources such as online courses for schools and guides for parents, whom Bernier said need to be the “first line of defense.”
Cullen said future legislation should strengthen boundary-related training for school employees and put protections in place for vulnerable students over 18. But after her years-long fight, she said she just wants a law on the books.
“If it doesn’t pass this time, then I’ll just go back to it,” Cullen said. “As long as I’m on this earth, I will be making sure something happens.”
Jamie Perkins is a graduate student in journalism covering state government for The Light as a summer intern. Email them at jperkins@newbedfordlight.org.