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Appendix B: Section 51B(k) of Chapter 119 of the Massachusetts General Laws

This is the law outlining how the Department of Children and Families (DCF) transmits written copies of child sexual abuse reports to district attorneys' offices and law enforcement.

Table of Contents

Overview

[The Department of Children and Families] shall notify and shall transmit copies of substantiated 51A reports and its written evaluations and written determinations . . . to the district attorney for the county in which the child resides and for the county in which the suspected abuse or neglect occurred, and to the local law enforcement authorities in the city or town in which the child resides and in the city or town in which the suspected abuse or neglect occurred when the department has reasonable cause to believe that 1 of the conditions listed below resulted from abuse or neglect.

The department shall immediately report to the district attorney and local law enforcement authorities . . . when early evidence indicates there is reasonable cause to believe that 1 of the conditions listed below resulted from abuse or neglect:

  1. a child has died or has suffered brain damage, loss or substantial impairment of a bodily function or organ, substantial disfigurement, or serious physical injury including, but not limited to, a fracture of any bone, a severe burn, an impairment of any organ or an injury requiring the child to be placed on life-support systems;
  2. a child has been sexually assaulted . . .
  3. a child . . . is a sexually exploited child or a child who is otherwise a human trafficking victim; or
  4. any other disclosure of physical abuse involving physical evidence which may be destroyed, any current disclosure by a child of sexual assault, or the presence of physical evidence of sexual assault.
Date published: May 16, 2019

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