Ayotte Signs A Series Of Laws To Further Protect Victims Of Crime

By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH

CONCORD, NH — A collection of bills to help further protect victims of crime in the state were officially made law Monday by Gov. Kelly Ayotte at a ceremonial signing attended by victims, their supporters, law enforcement and state leaders at the State House.

They increase minimum sentences for individuals convicted of trafficking children, crack down on illicit massage businesses and make buyers of such sex pay into a fund to strengthen the anti-trafficking network, establish in law a Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee, expedite rape kits into the hands of the state lab for testing and strengthen a statute on child sexual abuse images by prohibiting any person from creating intimate images of children using artificial intelligence.

Also, among the bills signed were ones ensuring victims get a free copy of the police report and one that enables victims of sexual assault and harassment in the NH National Guard to access financial assistance when participating in legal proceedings.

Tim Crowley, president of the New Hampshire Chiefs of Police Association and the Atkinson Police Chief said the new laws signed by Ayotte will help reduce the number of victims in the future.

He said many of the perpetrators of domestic violence were once victims themselves.

"We are reducing future offenders," he said. "So if we reduce the number of domestic violence incidents now, we are reducing future offenders later on and I think that is a key part of this. And I don't want that to get lost," he told the gathering.

Lyn Schollett, executive director of The Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence said following the ceremony that "what this day shows me is we can come togther and center on victims and make real change happen," she said. "This was a bipartisan effort. It was across all professions. We've got law enforcement, victim advocates, legislators, elected officials and most important survivors here, leading this charge.

"So this shows that as a state, we can come together and we can make the laws better," Schollett said.

She noted there is significant public attention on these issues following the July 6 murder of a 25-year-old Sandra Marisol Fuentes Huaracha, of Berlin by her estranged husband who was out on bail following assault charges she filed. He violated the restraining order intended to protect her by coming to her place of work and gunning her down.

He turned the gun on himself and died and law enforcement labeled the case as a domestic violence murder-suicide. That horrific attack has state and local authorities searching for answers.

There are a number of probes underway from the Berlin police, to the state's judicial review of the matter to the Attorney General's ongoing investigation.

Gov. Ayotte mentioned Fuentes Huaracha in her remarks and noted that the newly codified Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee will likely have hers as its first case to more effectively prevent domestic violence related homicides in the future and possibly recommend more changes in law.

Schollett said there is solid momentum now to further scrutinize the state's current system of laws and procedures and possibly work on more legislative change when lawmakers return this winter.

The Coalition will have three members on that committee which has not yet been named.

The Coalition is a statewide network of 12 independent member programs committed to ending domestic and sexual violence in the Granite State.

Pamela Keilig, public policy specialist for the Coalition, said the changes make the state's system more accessible and responsive to victims of crime.

"Just one legal barrier to safety can have devastating consequences for victims of abuse and exploitation," she said. "These reforms represent a significant step forward, and we're grateful to those lawmakers who supported these important bills."

Ayotte said New Hampshire continues to be the safest state in the nation and these measures only strengthen that.

“Today represents a significant step forward in our commitment to protect Granite Staters and seek justice for victims," she said in a statement. "These new laws — from enhancing protections for domestic violence survivors to increasing penalties for human trafficking and exploitation — demonstrate our dedication to safeguarding the most vulnerable.”

Attorney General John Formella also spoke at the gathering in the Executive Council chambers.

“Through initiatives like the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee and stronger enforcement against illicit activities, we send a clear message: victims will be supported and perpetrators will be held accountable," he said.

The governor noted she previously signed the bills into law as she had a time deadline.

They are as follows:

House Bill 62 – Provides financial assistance to victims of sexual assault and sexual harassment in the National Guard so they can participate in court proceedings and permits the introduction of military protective orders in proceedings for civil domestic violence protective orders.

House Bill 218 – Provides victims of crimes with a right to request a free initial police report and, following the conclusion of the investigation or case, a free copy of the complete case file.

House Bill 369 – Ensures accountability for criminals who commit offenses against minors and clarifies an offender against children’s duty to report to local law enforcement.

House Bill 405 – Establishes a commission to study human trafficking within illicit massage businesses and enhances the penalties for certain prostitution-related offenses.

House Bill 473 – Expands the criminal statute criminalizing exposing children to methamphetamine and allows for law enforcement to take a child into protective custody for screening or testing for criminal exposure to methamphetamine to cover all controlled substances, except those possessed pursuant to a lawful prescription.

Senate Bill 140 – Establishes the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee to conduct comprehensive, multidisciplinary reviews of deaths related to domestic violence.

Senate Bill 145 – Enables the Department of Safety to establish an evidence shipping pilot program, aiming to improve how the State handles rape kits.

Senate Bill 148 – Prohibits those convicted of murder from financially profiting from the death of the victim. For example, if a person kills their parent, they cannot then inherit their parent’s estate.

Senate Bill 262 – Increases the penalty for certain offenses involving the trafficking of persons under 18 years of age to 18 years to life imprisonment.

Senate Bill 300 – Targets AI-generated child sexual abuse material by making it a felony for a person to knowingly create, produce, manufacture, or direct an intimate visual representation of a child without the parent or guardian's consent.

Governor Ayotte also signed into law Senate Bill 267 to increase penalties for engaging in prostitution as a patron and establishing a mandatory fine for doing so.

This article first appeared on InDepthNH.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.