Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 272, § 17 (2026)

Incestuous marriage or sexual activities

✓ current as of July 2026 Cite as: Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 272, § 17 (2026)

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Section 17. Persons within degrees of consanguinity within which marriages are prohibited or declared by law to be incestuous and void, who intermarry or have sexual intercourse with each other, or who engage in sexual activities with each other, including but not limited to, oral or anal intercourse, fellatio, cunnilingus, or other penetration of a part of a person's body, or insertion of an object into the genital or anal opening of another person's body, or the manual manipulation of the genitalia of another person's body, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not more than 20 years or in the house of correction for not more than 21/2 years.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 23 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1924–2026 · leading case: Commonwealth v. Smith

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Commonwealth v. Smith (2000) mass · cites it 14× “A Plymouth County grand jury indicted the defendant on two charges of incest pursuant to G. L. c. 272, § 17 (incest statute), based on conduct he allegedly engaged in with his daughter.”

Commonwealth v. Rahim (2004) mass · cites it 5× “Among those charges are six indictments charging incest in violation of G. L. c. 272, § 17 (incest statute). 1 The defendant moved to dismiss the incest charges, arguing that, *274 because he was neither the natural nor adoptive father of his stepdaughter, and had no “blood-kin”…”

Commonwealth v. Domaingue (1986) mass · cites it 3× “, was tried before a jury in Superior Court on eleven indictments for incest, G. L. c. 272, § 17 (1984 ed.); one indictment for forcible rape, G.”

Commonwealth v. Garcia (2019) massappct · cites it 2× “265, § 23A ( a ) ; 1 incest, G. L. c. 272, § 17 ; and witness intimidation, G.”

Commonwealth v. Ramsey (2010) massappct · cites it 6× “A Superior Court jury convicted the defendant of incest, G. L. c. 272, § 17, and acquitted him of rape of a child, G.”

Roe v. Attorney General (2001) mass “272, § 2; incestuous marriage or intercourse, G. L. c. 272, § 17; and possession of child pornography, G.”

Commonwealth v. Mayotte (2016) mass “265, § 13H (five indictments); incest, G. L. c. 272, § 17; reckless endangerment of a child, G.”

Commonwealth v. Doe (1979) massappct “265, § 23); incest (G. L. c. 272, § 17); indecent assault and battery on a child under fourteen years of age (G.”

Commonwealth v. Burnham (2008) mass “G. L. c. 272, § 17. We conclude that the word “proceeding,” when appearing without limitation in G.”

B.B.V. v. B.S.V. (2006) massappct “9 The criminal prohibition against incest set forth in G. L. c. 272, § 17, serves to “promote the sanctity and integrity of familial relationships, as well as to protect children within the family from sexual impositions by their elders.”

Commonwealth v. Ashey (1924) mass · cites it 2× “The defendants were indicted under G. L. c. 272, § 17, which provides: “ Persons within the degrees of consanguinity within which marriages are prohibited or declared by law to be incestuous and void, who intermarry or have sexual intercourse with each other, shall be punished .”

Villalta v. Commonwealth (1998) mass “See G. L. c. 272, § 17, defining incest, and G.”

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