Legal Question in Criminal Law in Massachusetts

Re: Indecent A&B under age 14

Here is the statute for the offense charged:

Chapter 265: Section 13B. Indecent assault and battery on child under fourteen; penalties; subsequent offenses;

eligibility for parole, etc.

Section 13B. Whoever commits an indecent assault and battery on a child under the age of fourteen shall be punished by

imprisonment in the state prison for not more than ten years, or by imprisonment in a jail or house of correction for not more

than two and one-half years; and whoever commits a second or subsequent such offense shall be punished by imprisonment in

the state prison for life or any term of years; provided, however, that a prosecution commenced under the provisions of this

section shall not be placed on file or continued without a finding.

No person serving a sentence for a second or subsequent such offense shall be eligible for furlough, temporary release, or

education, training or employment programs established outside a correctional facility until such person shall have served

two-thirds of such minimum sentence or if such person has two or more sentences to be served otherwise than concurrently,

two-thirds of the aggregate of the minimum terms of such several sentences.

In a prosecution under this section, a child under the age of fourteen years shall be deemed incapable of consenting to any

conduct of the defendant for which said defendant is being prosecuted.