BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey has signed off on changes to the state’s child sex abuse laws aimed at closing “loopholes” that advocates say are allowing predators to go unpunished.
At a ceremonial signing on Friday, Healey touted policy changes in the $63.4 billion state budget she signed earlier this month that included raising the age of sexual consent in schools from 16 to 19, and up to 22 for developmentally disabled students.
Healey said the move will prevent adults from claiming “age of consent” as a legal defense in civil actions against sexual abuse that was initiated when the youth was underage.
“That’s not a relationship among equals. It’s an abuse of power,” Healey said in remarks at a ceremonial signing on Friday for the budget provisions. “It sickens me and it saddens me because I know the effect that can have on the trajectory of one’s life.”
Passage of the new law was championed by state Sen. Joan Lovely, D-Salem, who was sexually abused as a 6-year-old by a maternal uncle and has pushed for years to tighten the states child sexual abuse laws.
“This has been a journey,” Lovely, a Salem Democrat, said in remarks at the Friday bill signing. “We started this about 13 years ago and I’ve been pounding the pavement ever since.”
Lovely recalled how as a freshman lawmaker pushing for the changes to state law that some of her colleagues would question whether victims coming before legislative committees to testify about abuse were telling the truth.
“I was furious, and that’s what propelled me to do this work,” she said. “This was my mission.”
Massachusetts has some of the nation’s toughest laws on mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse. Teachers, doctors, nurses and childcare workers are threatened with fines and other penalties for failing to do so.
The state is also one of six that doesn’t require physical evidence or corroborating reports to launch an investigation of abuse.
Changes in state law aimed at preventing human trafficking, which went into effect in 2016, also require prosecutors to investigate any allegations of child sexual exploitation. Prosecutors say that has driven up their caseloads.
But advocates say Massachusetts continues to rely solely on background checks, which national risk assessment experts say are insufficient to identify those who pose a sexual risk to children.
Some schools also “pass the trash” by signing nondisclosure agreements with alleged abusers, allowing them to conceal histories of misconduct.
They have been prodding the state to focus more on educating those who work around kids to notice signs of a possible sexual predator and tougher requirements for reporting abuse.
Despite year after year of impassioned testimony from victims, a package of prevention bills has been languishing in legislative committees for years.
Lovely said she is also still pushing for approval of a statute of limitations related proposal that’s currently stalled in a committee before the end of legislative sessions.
Christian M. Wade covers Massachusetts state government and politics for CNHI News and North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com.