An Act To Protect All Students in Elementary or Secondary Schools from Sexual Assault by School Officials
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 1540
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: CYRWAY, NADEAU, BREEN, DIAMOND, KATZ, LANGLEY, THIBODEAU, GERRISH, LUCHINI
Amends: 17-A MRSA §253, 17-A MRSA §255-A, 17-A MRSA §260, 19-A MRSA §1653

Legislative Document 
No. 1540 
S.P. 601 
In Senate, January 7, 2016 
An Act To Protect All Students in Elementary or Secondary Schools 
from Sexual Assault by School Officials 
(AFTER DEADLINE) 
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
205. 
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator CYRWAY of Kennebec. 
Cosponsored by Representative NADEAU of Winslow and 
Senators: BREEN of Cumberland, DIAMOND of Cumberland, KATZ of Kennebec, 
LANGLEY of Hancock, McCORMICK of Kennebec, President THIBODEAU of Waldo, 
Representatives: GERRISH of Lebanon, LUCHINI of Ellsworth. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  17-A MRSA §253, sub-§2, ¶F, as amended by PL 2001, c. 383, §15 and 
affected by §156, is amended to read: 
F.    The other person, not the actor's spouse, has not in fact attained the age of 18 
years and is a student enrolled in a private or public elementary, secondary or special 
education school, facility or institution and the actor is a teacher, employee or other 
official having instructional, supervisory or disciplinary authority over the student.  
Violation of this paragraph is a Class C crime; 
Sec. 2.  17-A MRSA §255-A, sub-§1, ¶¶K and L, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 
383, §23 and affected by §156, are amended to read: 
K.    The other person, not the actor's spouse, is in fact less than 18 years of age and is 
a student enrolled in a private or public elementary, secondary or special education 
school, facility or institution and the actor is a teacher, employee or other official 
having instructional, supervisory or disciplinary authority over the student.  Violation 
of this paragraph is a Class D crime; 
L.    The other person, not the actor's spouse, is in fact less than 18 years of age and is 
a student enrolled in a private or public elementary, secondary or special education 
school, facility or institution and the actor is a teacher, employee or other official 
having instructional, supervisory or disciplinary authority over the student and the 
sexual contact includes penetration.  Violation of this paragraph is a Class C crime; 
Sec. 3.  17-A MRSA §255-A, sub-§1, ¶¶S and T, as amended by PL 2005, c. 
450, §1, are further amended to read: 
S.    The other person, not the actor's spouse, is in fact less than 18 years of age and is 
a student enrolled in a private or public elementary, secondary or special education 
school, facility or institution and the actor, who is at least 21 years of age, is a 
teacher, employee or other official in the school district, school union, educational 
unit, school, facility or institution in which the student is enrolled.  Violation of this 
paragraph is a Class E crime; 
T.    The other person, not the actor's spouse, is in fact less than 18 years of age and is 
a student enrolled in a private or public elementary, secondary or special education 
school, facility or institution and the actor, who is at least 21 years of age, is a 
teacher, employee or other official in the school district, school union, educational 
unit, school, facility or institution in which the student is enrolled and the sexual 
contact includes penetration.  Violation of this paragraph is a Class D crime; 
Sec. 4.  17-A MRSA §260, sub-§1, ¶F, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 138, §5, is 
amended to read: 
F.    The other person, not the actor's spouse, is in fact less than 18 years of age and is 
a student enrolled in a private or public elementary, secondary or special education 
school, facility or institution and the actor is a teacher, employee or other official 
having instructional, supervisory or disciplinary authority over the student.  Violation 
of this paragraph is a Class D crime; 
Sec. 5.  17-A MRSA §260, sub-§1, ¶J, as amended by PL 2011, c. 423, §7, is 
further amended to read: 
J.  The other person, not the actor's spouse, is in fact less than 18 years of age and is a 
student enrolled in a private or public elementary, secondary or special education 
school, facility or institution and the actor, who is at least 21 years of age, is a 
teacher, employee or other official in the school district, school union, educational 
unit, school, facility or institution in which the student is enrolled.  Violation of this 
paragraph is a Class E crime;  
Sec. 6.  19-A MRSA §1653, sub-§6-A, as amended by PL 2011, c. 597, §4, is 
further amended to read: 
6-A.  Custody and contact limited; convictions for sexual offenses.  The award of 
primary residence and parent-child contact with a person who has been convicted of a 
child-related sexual offense is governed by this subsection. 
A.  For the purposes of this section, "child-related sexual offense" means the 
following sexual offenses if, at the time of the commission of the offense, the victim 
was under 18 years of age or the victim was a student enrolled in a private or public 
elementary, secondary or special education school, facility or institution and the 
person was a teacher, employee or other official having instructional, supervisory or 
disciplinary authority over the student: 
(1)  Sexual exploitation of a minor, under Title 17-A, section 282; 
(2)  Gross sexual assault, under Title 17-A, section 253; 
(3)  Sexual abuse of a minor, under Title 17-A, section 254; 
(4)  Unlawful sexual contact, under Title 17-A, section 255-A or former section 
255; 
(5)  Visual sexual aggression against a child, under Title 17-A, section 256; 
(6)  Sexual misconduct with a child under 14 years of age, under Title 17-A, 
section 258; 
(6-A)  Solicitation of a child to commit a prohibited act, under Title 17-A, section 
259-A; or 
(7)  An offense in another jurisdiction that involves conduct that is substantially 
similar to that contained in subparagraph (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6) or (6-A). For 
purposes of this subparagraph, "another jurisdiction" means the Federal 
Government, the United States military, the District of Columbia, the 
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
Islands, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and each of 
the several states except Maine. "Another jurisdiction" also means the 
Passamaquoddy Tribe when that tribe has acted pursuant to Title 30, section 
6209-A, subsection 1, paragraph A or B and the Penobscot Nation when that tribe 
has acted pursuant to Title 30, section 6209-B, subsection 1, paragraph A or B. 
B.  A court may award primary residence of a minor child or parent-child contact 
with a minor child to a parent who has been convicted of a child-related sexual 
offense only if the court finds that contact between the parent and child is in the best 
interest of the child and that adequate provision for the safety of the child can be 
made. 
C.  In an order of parental rights and responsibilities, a court may require that parent-
child contact between a minor child and a person convicted of a child-related sexual 
offense may occur only if there is another person or agency present to supervise the 
contact.  If the court allows a family or household member to supervise parent-child 
contact, the court shall establish conditions to be followed during that contact.  
Conditions include, but are not limited to, those that: 
(1)  Minimize circumstances when the family of the parent who is a sex offender 
or sexually violent predator would be supervising visits; 
(2)  Ensure that contact does not damage the relationship with the parent with 
whom the child has primary physical residence; 
(3)  Ensure the safety and well-being of the child; and 
(4)  Require that supervision be provided by a person who is physically and 
mentally capable of supervising a visit and who does not have a criminal history 
or history of abuse or neglect. 
SUMMARY 
This bill removes the age limit on the victim of the crime of unlawful sexual contact, 
unlawful sexual touching or gross sexual assault when the victim is a student at an 
elementary, secondary or special education school and the actor is a person at the school 
who has authority over the student. 
The bill also specifies that a parent convicted of the crime of unlawful sexual contact, 
unlawful sexual touching or gross sexual assault is subject to stricter scrutiny by the court 
when it determines residence for and contact with a child of the parent when the victim 
was a student at an elementary, secondary or special education school and the parent was 
a person at the school who had authority over the student.