An Act To Amend the Laws Prohibiting Teachers, Employees and Other Officials from Engaging in Sexual Activity with Students (AFTER DEADLINE)
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1715
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: STEWART, KEIM, POIRIER
Amends: 17-A MRSA §253, 17-A MRSA §255-A, 17-A MRSA §260, 19-A MRSA §1653

Legislative Document
No. 1715
S.P. 549
In Senate, May 19, 2021
An Act To Amend the Laws Prohibiting Teachers, Employees and 
Other Officials from Engaging in Sexual Activity with Students
(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.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator STEWART of Aroostook.
Cosponsored by Senator: KEIM of Oxford, Representative: POIRIER of Skowhegan.
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 2015, c. 509, §1, is 
further amended to read:
F.  The other person, not the actor's spouse, 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 or having had instructional, supervisory 
or disciplinary authority over the student.  Violation of this paragraph is a Class C 
crime;
Sec. 2.  17-A MRSA §253, sub-§2, ¶G, as amended by PL 2013, c. 179, §2, is 
further amended to read:
G.  The other person, not the actor's spouse, has not attained the age of 18 years and is 
a resident in or attending a children's home, child care facility, facility operated by a 
family child care provider, children's residential care facility, drug treatment center, 
youth camp licensed under Title 22, section 2495 or similar school, facility or 
institution regularly providing care or services for children, and the actor is a teacher, 
employee or other person having or having had instructional, supervisory or 
disciplinary authority over the other person.  Violation of this paragraph is a Class C 
crime;
Sec. 3.  17-A MRSA §255-A, sub-§1, ¶K, as amended by PL 2015, c. 509, §2, is 
further amended to read:
K.  The other person, not the actor's spouse, 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 or having had instructional, supervisory 
or disciplinary authority over the student.  Violation of this paragraph is a Class D 
crime;
Sec. 4.  17-A MRSA §255-A, sub-§1, ¶L, as amended by PL 2015, c. 509, §2, is 
further amended to read:
L.  The other person, not the actor's spouse, 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 or having had instructional, supervisory 
or disciplinary authority over the student and the sexual contact includes penetration.  
Violation of this paragraph is a Class C crime;
Sec. 5.  17-A MRSA §260, sub-§1, ¶F, as amended by PL 2015, c. 509, §3, is 
further amended to read:
F.  The other person, not the actor's spouse, 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 or having had instructional, supervisory 
or disciplinary authority over the student.  Violation of this paragraph is a Class D 
crime;
Sec. 6.  19-A MRSA §1653, sub-§6-A, ¶A, as amended by PL 2015, c. 509, §4, is 
further amended to read:
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 
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 or having had 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.
SUMMARY
This bill amends the laws governing gross sexual assault, unlawful sexual contact and 
unlawful sexual touching to provide that when the actor is a teacher, employee or other 
official with instructional, supervisory or disciplinary authority over a student, such 
authority does not need to be possessed by the teacher, employee or other official at the 
time the act is committed. These laws apply to actors that are substitute teachers. The Maine 
Supreme Judicial Court held in State of Maine v. Conroy, 2020 ME 22, that such crimes, 
as defined by the Legislature, require that at the time of the sexual act or sexual contact the 
actor has instructional, supervisory or disciplinary authority over the student.