Positions of Trust Bill Officially Law in MA
After a decade of advocacy, victims, survivors, and advocates clinched a long‑awaited victory when Governor Maura Healey signed the FY27 budget, which included closing the "Positions of Trust" loophole.
The new law dictates that people under the age of 18 would be unable to legally consent to sexual conduct with an adult who holds, or has held, supervisory or custodial authority over them. This could include teachers, coaches, camp counselors, mentors, etc. A redrafted Sen. Joan Lovely amendment in the Senate's fiscal 2027 budget proposal slotted the policy into the final budget, which also implements an up to 20-year sentence for rape and up to 10 years for indecent assault and battery. Those penalties do not apply "if the defendant was not more than 4 years older than the child at the time of the alleged offense which protects those in a close-in-age peer relationships from prosecution.
With the closing of this "legal gap," Massachusetts joined 40 other states in protecting young people from this form of abuse.
We were honored to partner with the Massachusetts Children's Alliance, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, and our fellow CACs across the Commonwealth to champion this reform. And we are grateful to WCVB 5's Karen Anderson and The Boston Globe's Yvonne Abraham for keeping this issue at the forefront with their coverage (linked below).
- Mass. is the only state in New England with an age of consent loophole. The time to close it is now. (The Boston Globe, 4/17/26)
- In Mass it’s still legal for a teacher to have sex with a 16-year old student (WCVB 5, 11/13/25)
- Sex abuse survivors from Miss Hall's School share their story, push for legislation to protect children (5/20/26)
- Following 5 Investigates’ reporting, Mass. Senate passes measure to protect students from abuse (5/21/26)