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H1835 • 2025

An Act supporting consenting young adults

An Act supporting consenting young adults

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Jack Patrick Lewis
Last action
2026-03-26
Official status
Accompanied a study order, see H5281 (under House Rule 27)
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

An Act supporting consenting young adults

An Act supporting consenting young adults By Representative Lewis of Framingham, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.

What This Bill Does

  • An Act supporting consenting young adults By Representative Lewis of Framingham, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No.
  • 1835) of Jack Patrick Lewis relative to the penalties for violations of age of consent laws for young adults.
  • The Judiciary.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-26 House

    Accompanied a study order, see H5281 (under House Rule 27)

  2. 2025-10-20 Joint

    Hearing scheduled for 06/10/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-2

  3. 2025-06-05 Joint

    Hearing scheduled for 06/10/2025 from 01:00 PM-05:00 PM in A-2

  4. 2025-02-27 House

    Referred to the committee on The Judiciary

  5. 2025-02-27 Senate

    Senate concurred

  6. House

    Reported by committee to Clerk’s Office for processing, will accompany a study order

Official Summary Text

An Act supporting consenting young adults
By Representative Lewis of Framingham, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1835) of Jack Patrick Lewis relative to the penalties for violations of age of consent laws for young adults. The Judiciary.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
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Bill H.1835

SECTION 1. Section 13B of chapter 265 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “prosecuted” the following words:- unless the defendant is not more than 2 years older than the minor and the minor has attained the age of 13 years.

Notwithstanding the provisions of section 54 of chapter 119 or any other general or special law to the contrary, in a prosecution under this section in which the defendant is under the age of criminal majority at the time of the offense, the commonwealth shall only proceed by complaint in juvenile court or in a juvenile session of a district court.

SECTION 2. Said chapter 265, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out section 23 and inserting in place thereof the following:-

Section 23. Whoever has sexual intercourse or unnatural sexual intercourse with a minor under 16 years of age, unless the defendant is not more than 2 years older than the minor and the minor has attained the age of 13 years, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for life or for any term of years or, except as otherwise provided, for any term in a jail or house of correction. A prosecution commenced under this section shall not be placed on file or continued without a finding.

Notwithstanding the provisions of section 54 of chapter 119 or any other general or special law to the contrary, in a prosecution under this section in which the defendant is under the age of criminal majority at the time of the offense, the commonwealth shall only proceed by complaint in juvenile court or in a juvenile session of a district court.

SECTION 3. Section 4 of chapter 272 of the General Laws is hereby repealed.

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