Massachusetts Personal Injury News
New Law Will Make it Easier for Law Enforcement to Prosecute Sexual Abuse Crimes against Children
A new sex-abuse law in Massachusetts is set to take effect next month. The law is Massachusetts’ version of “Jessica’s Law”, although it does not have the same tough sentencing requirements as the Florida legislation, which was used as a model for this new law.
Jessica’s Law was named after Jessica Lunsford, a 9-year-old Florida girl who was raped and murdered in 2005 by a repeat sex offender. The original version of this Florida law establishes a 25-year minimum sentence for sex offenders convicted of sexually abusing a young child and also requires that paroled sex offenders wear a GPS positioning unit.
Many states, including Massachusetts, have passed laws that increase the minimum sentence for some sexual offenses against children and also provide prosecutors with more flexibility in working out plea agreements. The new law in Massachusetts will make it easier for law enforcement officers to prosecute child predators.
A large number of sexual abuse cases never go to trial, in an effort to spare the child and family from dealing with a courtroom battle. That is why prosecutors frequently use evidence and expert interviews to create a plea deal and a sentence for the perpetrator, who is also required to register as a sex offender. Michael O’Keefe, president of the Massachusetts District Attorneys Association, believes that if an individual faces 25 years in prison, then that person will most likely take a gamble and push the case to trial. The fear is that many families would withdraw their complaints rather than subjecting their child to a trial.
There was a lot of support for a stronger version of the law, including that of Mark Lunsford, the father of Jessica Lunsford, but many are satisfied that at least something was passed. O’Keefe commented that “a lesser sentence is better than no sentence at all.”
