June 12, 2025

*** Legislation Alert ***

Pass the Prevention Package in Massachusetts!

Calling all child sexual abuse prevention advocates! The Joint Committee on Education and the Joint Committee on the Judiciary have scheduled their public hearings on child sexual abuse prevention bills at the same time, Tuesday, June 17th at 1pm at the MA State House, in room A-2 (Education) and B-2 (Judiciary). You can register to testify virtually or in-person, or submit written testimony in support. These will be the only hearings on these bills and the only chance to express your support at a hearing in this two-year legislative session.

Testimony is limited to two minutes per individual.

Enough Abuse will be handing out "Prevention Paddles" to those who testify in person to express your support for the "Prevention Package!"

We also encourage you to submit written testimony if you have longer information to share or are unable to testify in person or virtually.

To submit written testimony regarding Senate Judiciary Committee bills, email [email protected].

To submit written testimony regarding House Judiciary Committee bills, email [email protected]. 

Judiciary Committee Hearing webpage (including all bills being heard).

Written testimony for the Education Committee bills should be submitted to Fiona Bruce-Baiden at [email protected] and Emily Reynolds at [email protected], or to the Committee on Education at 24 Beacon Street, Room 473G, Boston, MA 02133. The Chairs request that those submitting written testimony include “EDUCATION COMMITTEE TESTIMONY” and the bill number IN THE SUBJECT LINE, and provide the committee with your name, organization, and phone number.  

For the Education Committee hearing details, click here.

Questions about how to prepare testimony?

Enough Abuse is hosting a Zoom meeting TONIGHT (Thursday) at 6pm for advocates to provide guidance on this. Click here to register.

 "Prevention Package" bills being heard in Judiciary:

S.1163/H.1634 - An Act relative to sexual assaults by adults in positions of authority or trust, Sen. Joan Lovely and Rep. Leigh Davis 

Criminalizes sexual abuse by adults in positions of authority with minors in their care, and allows for civil lawsuits against them.

H.1733 - An Act relative to the age of consent in certain criminal prosecutions and civil actions for sexual assault and rape of a child and H.1734 -  An Act relative to preventing educator sexual misconduct and abuse of children/youth - Rep. Ken Gordon 

Criminalizes sexual abuse of students under 19 who haven't received a H.S. diploma by school, college, youth serving organization or department employees and allows for lawsuits against them. 

H.1593/S.1174  An Act protecting minors from the creation of computer-generated child sexual abuse visual materials -  Rep. Natalie Blais and Sen. Paul Mark 

To address the exponentially growing problem of online child sexual abuse material (CSAM), this bill would enable prosecution of people for developing and sharing sexually explicit images of children that are technologically edited, collaged, morphed or AI-generated, including sexual "deepfakes" of children. 

 S.1166 - An Act relative to enhancing hiring practices to prevent sexual abuse - Sen. Lovely

Requires screening of school employees through enhanced reference checks to prevent hiring abusers

S.1165 -  An Act amending the statute of limitations regarding criminal prosecutions for the crimes of sexual assault and rape of a child - Sen. Lovely

Eliminates the criminal Statute of Limitations (SOL)

S.1169 - An Act enhancing remedies for survivors of childhood sexual abuse - Sen. Lovely

Eliminates the civil SOL and eliminates the $100K cap on negligence damages for institutions in child sexual abuse cases.

H.1832 - An Act relative to preventing the sexual abuse of children and youth, aka, The Comprehensive Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Act of 2025 - Rep. Lawn 

Requires CSAP education and policies in schools, school employee screening, criminalizes adults in positions of authority who sexually abuse minors in their care and prohits age of consent as a defense) 

Please see the "Prevention Package" bill summary for more details about the bills being heard (the committees are listed next to the bills). 

How to Testify in Both Committees:

Please note - you can register to testify for both the Judiciary and Education Committee hearings in person or virtually, but it may not be possible, depending on the timing. You can register for both on each of the hearing webpages and get an estimated time when you will be called when you check in at the hearing. It is recommended that you be in the hearing room an hour before the estimated time in case they move ahead of schedule. Attend the hearing you feel most called to testify for, and try to go to both, but you may miss one if they call your name while you are in the other room. In that case, you can submit testimony in writing for the one you missed. 

"Prevention Package" Bills being heard in the Education Committee:

H.516 "An Act establishing employee screening requirements in schools to prevent child sexual abuse" would prevent school from hiring abusers by requiring enhanced reference checks (companion bill to S.1166 in Judiciary).

S.405 "An Act stopping harm inflicted by the exploitation of life and development" would require child sexual abuse prevention education for staff and students in schools and the adoption of a Code of Conduct to prevent child sexual abuse

S.404 "An Act relative to supporting survivors of child sexual abuse" would enhance opportunities for justice in CSA cases involving sports or nonprofit institutions.

To learn more about the "Prevention Package" bills and their history, click here to visit our Citizens to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse webpage.

Passing bills, even those that face little or no opposition, can be daunting. By banding together, we can create a powerful megaphone to ensure that these crucial bills become law and that children can be better protected from sexual abuse and exploitation.

The fight continues...

Jetta Bernier, Executive Director

ENOUGH ABUSE®, formerly Massachusetts Citizens for Children, dba MassKids, is the nation’s oldest citizen-based child advocacy organization, with a 6-decade history of improving the lives of vulnerable children. We prevent the sexual abuse of children in their homes, communities and online through prevention trainings, education and advocacy.

Contact ENOUGH ABUSE®

www.enoughabuse.org - [email protected] - (617) 742-8555