Child Enticement in Massachusetts: Sting Cases, Online Enticement, Registration, and Your Defenses

Enticing a child under 16 is a felony in Massachusetts under G.L. c. 265, § 26C. The charge does not require any physical contact or even a real child. It is built on what you said or did to lure someone, and what you intended to happen next. That is why many of these cases come from police sting operations, and why intent is usually the center of the defense.

What the Law Covers

Section 26C makes it a crime to entice a child under 16, or someone you believe to be under 16, to enter, exit, or remain within any vehicle, dwelling, building, or outdoor space, with the intent that you or another person will commit one of a long list of offenses. The statute defines “entice” broadly: to lure, induce, persuade, tempt, incite, solicit, coax, or invite.

A separate statute, G.L. c. 265, § 26D, covers electronic enticement. It applies when someone, by electronic communication, knowingly entices a child under 18 to engage in prostitution, human trafficking, or commercial sexual activity, or attempts to do so. It is narrower than its name suggests: it targets commercial sexual exploitation, not every online conversation with a minor.

The Target Offenses

Under § 26C, the Commonwealth must prove you intended a specific crime from the statute’s list. Grouped, they are:

• Sexual assault offenses: indecent assault and battery, rape and rape of a child, and assault with intent to commit rape.
• Exploitation offenses: inducing a minor into prostitution, disseminating matter harmful to a minor or obscene matter, posing a child in a state of nudity, possessing child pornography, and paying for sexual conduct.
• Indecency and public-order offenses: open and gross lewdness, unnatural and lascivious acts with a child under 16, and the § 53 offenses, including indecent exposure and lewd, wanton and lascivious conduct.
• Crimes of force: any offense that has the use or attempted use of force as an element.

What the Commonwealth Must Prove

Under the model jury instruction (Instruction 6.560), the Commonwealth must prove three things beyond a reasonable doubt:

• The alleged victim was a child under 16, or a person you believed to be under 16;
• You enticed that person to enter, exit, or remain within a vehicle, dwelling, building, or outdoor space; and
• You did so intending that you or another person would commit one of the listed offenses.

A person can entice with words, gestures, or in other ways.

“Believed to Be Under 16”: Sting Cases

Because the statute covers someone you believe is under 16, the Commonwealth does not have to prove a real child was involved. The model instruction says so directly: it is enough if the object of the enticement was a person you believed to be a child under 16. In practice, that means a case can rest on conversations with an undercover officer posing as a minor. The question becomes what you actually believed, and what the messages actually show.

Intent still matters. When the intended crime is one where age is the key element, such as rape of a child, the SJC has held that the Commonwealth must prove you intended your advances to be directed at an underage person (Commonwealth v. Filopoulos, 451 Mass. 234 (2008)).

Penalties

• Child enticement (§ 26C): up to 5 years in state prison or up to 2½ years in the house of correction, and a fine of up to $5,000.
• Electronic enticement (§ 26D): up to 5 years in state prison or up to 2½ years in the house of correction, a fine of at least $2,500, or both.

Sex Offender Registration

Both § 26C and § 26D are registrable sex offenses under G.L. c. 6, § 178C. A conviction brings the case before the Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB), which sets the registration requirements.

Defenses

• No intent to commit a listed crime: the Commonwealth must prove a specific intended offense, not just an inappropriate conversation.
• No belief the person was under 16: in a sting, profiles, photos, and statements about age matter, and so does what you said about them.
• No enticement to a place: the statute requires enticing someone to enter, exit, or remain in a vehicle, dwelling, building, or outdoor space.
• Context and completeness of messages: partial screenshots and missing conversation threads can distort what was said.
• Unlawful search: phones and accounts are usually searched by warrant. See challenging the police under the Fourth Amendment.

Why a Lawyer Matters

An enticement charge is a felony with sex offender registration, and it can be brought without any contact or any real child. The case usually turns on digital evidence and on intent. Attorney William J. Barabino has defended serious criminal cases for 23 years. Call 781-393-5900.

Related Charges

• Possession of child pornography (G.L. c. 272, § 29C): possessing sexual images of a child under 18.
• Lewd, wanton and lascivious acts (G.L. c. 272, § 53): sexual conduct in a public place; a misdemeanor.
• Secretly photographing a nude or partially nude person (G.L. c. 272, § 105): recording a person without consent.
• Sex Offender Registry Board (SORB): how registration and classification work.

Disclaimer

This article is for general educational information about Massachusetts criminal law. It is not legal advice for your situation, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws change. For advice about a specific case, speak with a licensed Massachusetts attorney.