New law updating the state’s obscenity code would apply to all electronic communication
BOSTON—The Massachusetts House has voted to close a loophole in the law that allowed the sending to minors of sexually explicit images by electronic means (i.e. sexting).
The bill, which was introduced in early February by State Rep. Bradley Jones (R-North Reading) and House Judiciary Chairman Eugene O’Flaherty (D-Chelsea), would close a loophole that last year forced the state’s Supreme Court to overturn the conviction of a man accused of sending explicit instant messages to a 13-year-old girl.
According to wbztv.com, “The amendment unanimously approved on Wednesday would update the state’s obscenity laws to include all electronic communications such as e-mail and text messages. The measure … was tacked onto an unrelated crime bill that would create a new charge of assault and battery on a correctional officer by means of a bodily fluid.”
The bill now heads to the Senate.
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