Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H1683 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	1 of 1
2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2837 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1683
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Tricia Farley-Bouvier and Mary S. Keefe
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act to strengthen justice and support for sex trade survivors.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Tricia Farley-Bouvier2nd Berkshire1/16/2025Mary S. Keefe15th Worcester1/17/2025Antonio F. D. Cabral13th Bristol2/26/2025Vanna Howard17th Middlesex1/21/2025Patrick Joseph Kearney4th Plymouth1/22/2025David Henry Argosky LeBoeuf17th Worcester2/10/2025Adrianne Pusateri Ramos14th Essex3/6/2025 1 of 6
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2837 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1683
18	18	By Representatives Farley-Bouvier of Pittsfield and Keefe of Worcester, a petition (accompanied
19	19	by bill, House, No. 1683) of Tricia Farley-Bouvier, Mary S. Keefe and others relative to
20	20	prostitution. The Judiciary.
21	21	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
22	22	_______________
23	23	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
24	24	(2025-2026)
25	25	_______________
26	26	An Act to strengthen justice and support for sex trade survivors.
27	27	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
28	28	of the same, as follows:
29	29	1 SECTION 1. Section 7 of chapter 4 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022
30	30	2Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the sixty-first definition the following
31	31	3definition:-
32	32	4 Sixty-second, “prostituted person” shall mean any person who: (i) is the victim of the
33	33	5crime of sexual servitude pursuant to section 50 of chapter 265 or is the victim of the crime of
34	34	6sex trafficking as defined in 22 U.S.C. section 7105; (ii) engages, agrees to engage or offers to
35	35	7engage in sexual conduct with another person in return for a fee, in violation of subsection (a) of
36	36	8section 53A of chapter 272, or in exchange for food, shelter, clothing, education or care; (iii) is a
37	37	9victim of the crime, whether or not prosecuted, of inducing a minor into prostitution under by
38	38	10section 4A of chapter 272; or (iv) engages in common night walking or common streetwalking
39	39	11under section 53 of chapter 272 as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition. 2 of 6
40	40	12 SECTION 2. Section 55 of chapter 265 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
41	41	13amended by striking out, in line 4, the words “section 50 or 51” and inserting in place thereof the
42	42	14following words:- “section 50 or 51 of this chapter or section 8 or 53A of chapter 272”.
43	43	15 SECTION 3. Said section 55 of said chapter 265, as so appearing, is hereby further
44	44	16amended by adding the following paragraph:-
45	45	17 All monies used or intended to be used to facilitate any violation of section 8 or 53A of
46	46	18chapter 272 that are not provided as restitution to victims shall be transmitted monthly by the
47	47	19courts to the state treasurer who shall then allocate the funds to the Massachusetts Office for
48	48	20Victim Assistance who shall, in turn, allocate the funds to the Victims of Human Trafficking
49	49	21Trust Fund established by section 66A of chapter 10.
50	50	22 SECTION 4. Section 56 of said chapter 265, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
51	51	23striking out, in lines 6, 8 to 9, 15, 19, 33 to 34, 43, 50 to 51, and 66, the words “section 50 or 51”
52	52	24and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following words:- “section 50 or 51 of this
53	53	25chapter or section 8 or 53A of chapter 272”.
54	54	26 SECTION 5. Subsection (a) of section 59 of said chapter 265, as so appearing, is hereby
55	55	27amended by striking out paragraphs (5) and (6) and inserting in place thereof the following 3
56	56	28paragraphs:-
57	57	29 (5) where the conviction, adjudication of delinquency or continuance without a finding
58	58	30was for an offense committed when the defendant was 18 years of age or older, the defendant
59	59	31may prepare a sworn affidavit establishing a reasonable probability that the defendant’s
60	60	32participation in the offense was the result of having been a victim of human trafficking or
61	61	33trafficking in persons and serve such affidavit upon the state or local prosecutorial office that 3 of 6
62	62	34obtained such conviction. In cases where such an affidavit is served, a rebuttable presumption
63	63	35that the defendant’s participation in the offense was a result of having been a victim of human
64	64	36trafficking or trafficking in persons shall be created in cases where the state or local prosecutorial
65	65	37office has agreed to assent to the motion for vacatur or has failed to respond within 45 days from
66	66	38the date of service; provided, however, that such presumption shall not be required for granting a
67	67	39motion under this subsection;
68	68	40 (6) the rules concerning the admissibility of evidence at criminal trials shall not apply to
69	69	41the presentation and consideration of information at a hearing conducted pursuant to this section
70	70	42and the court shall consider hearsay contained in official documentation from any local, state or
71	71	43federal government agency of the defendant’s status as a victim of human trafficking or
72	72	44trafficking in persons offered in support of a motion pursuant to this section; and
73	73	45 (7) a motion pursuant to this section may be heard by any sitting justice of a court of
74	74	46competent jurisdiction.
75	75	47 SECTION 6. Said section 59 of said chapter 265, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
76	76	48striking out subsection (b) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection:-
77	77	49 (b) Upon vacatur of a conviction, adjudication of delinquency or continuance without a
78	78	50finding, the court shall enter a disposition of nolle prosequi and order an expungement of the
79	79	51record of such offense and shall forward an order for expungement forthwith to the clerk of the
80	80	52court where the record was created, to the commissioner of probation and to the commissioner of
81	81	53criminal justice information services appointed pursuant to section 167A of chapter 6. 4 of 6
82	82	54 SECTION 7. Section 4A of chapter 272 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
83	83	55amended by striking out, in line 1, the word “prostitute” and inserting in place thereof the
84	84	56following words:- “prostituted person”.
85	85	57 SECTION 8. Section 7 of said chapter 272, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
86	86	58striking out, in line 1, the word “prostitute” and inserting in place thereof the following words:-
87	87	59“prostituted person”.
88	88	60 SECTION 9. Section 53 of said chapter 272, as so appearing, is hereby amended by
89	89	61striking out, in lines 1 to 2, the words “Common night walkers, common street walkers, both
90	90	62male and female, persons” and inserting in place thereof the following word:- “Persons.”
91	91	63 SECTION 10. Section 100K of chapter 276 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is
92	92	64hereby amended by striking out subsection (c) and inserting in place thereof the following
93	93	65subsections:-
94	94	66 (c) The court shall order an expungement pursuant to this section of a record created as a
95	95	67result of a criminal court appearance, juvenile court appearance or dispositions for charges of
96	96	68common night walking and common street walking under subsection (a) of section 53 of chapter
97	97	69272.
98	98	70 (d) When expungement is ordered pursuant to this section, the court shall forward an
99	99	71order for expungement forthwith to the clerk of the court where the record was created, to the
100	100	72commissioner and to the commissioner of criminal justice information services appointed
101	101	73pursuant to section 167A of chapter 6. 5 of 6
102	102	74 SECTION 11. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, there shall be
103	103	75a special commission to review and develop a set of recommendations to prevent, identify and
104	104	76respond to all forms of prostitution in the commonwealth. The special commission shall consist
105	105	77of 21 members: (i) the secretary of the executive office of health and human services or
106	106	78designee, who shall serve as a co-chair; (ii) the director of the Massachusetts office for victim
107	107	79assistance or designee, who shall serve as a co-chair; (iii) a representative of the office of the
108	108	80attorney general; (iv) a representative of the department of public health; (v) a representative of
109	109	81the department of housing and community development; (vi) a representative of the department
110	110	82of children and families; (vii) a representative of the department of mental health; (viii) a
111	111	83representative of the executive office of labor and workforce development; (ix) a representative
112	112	84of My Life My Choice; (x) a representative of Safe Exit Initiative; (xi) a representative of
113	113	85Amirah, Inc; (xii) a representative of Ria, Inc.; (xiii) a representative from an organization
114	114	86focused on the needs of the LBGTQ+ community; (xiv) a representative from an organization
115	115	87dedicated to providing treatment to those with substance use disorder; (xv) a representative of
116	116	88Boston Medical Center; (xvi) a representative of the Massachusetts office of refugees and
117	117	89immigrants; (xvii) a representative from the committee for public counsel services; (xviii) a
118	118	90victim witness advocate appointed by the Massachusetts office for victim assistance; (xix) a
119	119	91representative of the Massachusetts State Police; (xx) a representative of the Massachusetts
120	120	92Sheriffs’ Association; and (xxi) a representative of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police
121	121	93Association.
122	122	94 The special commission shall publish a report, which shall include, but not be limited to:
123	123	95(i) a review of existing government and non-government services related to the prevention,
124	124	96identification and support of prostituted persons and the effectiveness of such services; (ii) 6 of 6
125	125	97recommendations to increase and provide assistance to prostituted persons, including, but not
126	126	98limited to, housing and re-location services, physical and behavioral health care, education and
127	127	99job training, legal assistance, and victim compensation; (iii) strategies and best practices for
128	128	100launching a statewide prevention and awareness campaign that uses evidence-based educational
129	129	101programs and techniques to help deter youth from the commercial sex trade; and (iv)
130	130	102recommendations to increase existing organizations’ capacity to deliver survivor-of-prostitution-
131	131	103led exit programming that provides continuity of support services for survivors.
132	132	104 The special commission shall convene not later than 90 days after the effective date of
133	133	105this act and shall submit its findings and recommendations to the governor, the secretary of
134	134	106health and human services, the clerks of the senate and the house of representatives, the chairs of
135	135	107the joint committee on children, families and persons with disabilities and the chairs of the senate
136	136	108and house committees on ways and means not later than 18 months after the effective date of this
137	137	109act.