Jessica's Law

By Jeffrey Davis Perry

Public Safety Update

After nearly a year and a half of legislative wrangling, I am extremely pleased to report that we have made significant progress to better protect our children from sexual predators. As regular readers of this column will recall, I am a cosponsor of the Massachusetts versions of Jesscia's Law, also known as House Bill 1688.

Jessica's Law is named after Jessica Lunsford, a young Florida girl who was raped and murdered in February 2005 by John Couey, a previously convicted sex offender. Couey had been sentenced to ten years in prison but was paroled early. Public outrage over this case resulted in Florida officials passing this legislation and prompted many other states to propose and pass similar laws. While some forty plus other states have strengthened such laws, Massachusetts is lagging behind.

The Bill was stuck in Committee with a few legislators apparently expressing concerns over minimum mandatory prison sentences. In my opinion such mandatory sentences greatly improve the safety of our children across the Commonwealth by mandating minimum sentencing for such crimes like rape of a child with the use of force as well as mandatory minimum sentences for other child victim crimes.

The good news is that because of pressure from those of us who are demanding action on this Bill, including thousands of calls from citizens and increased media attention, the Attorney General, the District Attorneys Association and several key legislative leaders announced last week that they support many of the provisions of Jessica's Law.

While the revised proposal still faces a debate and is subject to changing, currently the key highlights are under Chapter 265, §13B ½ which now define aggravated indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. This is a new offense in Massachusetts and clearly states that a child under 14 shall be deemed incapable of consenting to any sexual conduct of an adult defendant. The mandatory minimum sentence is 10 years. The aggravating factors include; the act was committed when the defendant was armed with a dangerous weapon; the act was committed during the commission of certain crimes including armed robbery, unarmed robbery, breaking and entering, entering without breaking, breaking and entering into a dwelling house, kidnapping, armed robbery, unarmed robbery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, assault with a dangerous weapon, home invasion, posing or exhibiting a child in a state of nudity.

Also under Chapter 265, §13B ¾; Aggravated indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 + 2nd offense, (also a new offense). The introduction into evidence of a prior conviction or prior finding of sufficient fact shall be deemed prima facie (valid on it's face) evidence of a prior conviction and shall be self-authenticating. The mandatory minimum sentence in 15 years. This is a great new tool to keep repeat offenders is prison.

These two new offenses are significant progress in protecting our children and society from repeat sex offenders. While the Bill as proposed is not perfect, it is significant progress. When the Bill reaches the House floor for a formal vote, I will be working to improve some of the language to add additional crimes and minimum sentences.

I would like to close this month's column by thanking all the citizens who took the time to call and write the State House and lobby for passage of this Bill. Without a doubt, absent the pressure from the people and media, I am confident the recent progress would not have been achieved. This is yet another example that despite the special interest that often controls the political agenda, the people can, and do still have the inherent power to force their government to do the right thing.