Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 41, § 97D (2026)

Confidentiality of reports of rape, sexual assault and domestic violence; access by victim and certain individuals in performance of their duties; violations; penalties

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 97D. All reports of rape and sexual assault or attempts to commit such offenses, all reports of abuse perpetrated by family or household members, as defined in section 1 of chapter 209A, and all communications between police officers and victims of such offenses or abuse shall not be public reports and shall be maintained by the police departments in a manner that shall assure their confidentiality; provided, however, that all such reports shall be accessible at all reasonable times, upon written request, to: (i) the victim, the victim's attorney, others specifically authorized by the victim to obtain such information, prosecutors and (ii) victim-witness advocates as defined in section 1 of chapter 258B, domestic violence victims' counselors as defined in section 20K of chapter 233, sexual assault counselors as defined in section 20J of chapter 233, if such access is necessary in the performance of their duties; and provided further, that all such reports shall be accessible at all reasonable times, upon written, telephonic, facsimile or electronic mail request to law enforcement officers, district attorneys or assistant district attorneys and all persons authorized to admit persons to bail pursuant to section 57 of chapter 276. Communications between police officers and victims of said offenses and abuse may also be shared with the forgoing named persons if such access is necessary in the performance of their duties. A violation of this section shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 1 year or by a fine of not more than $1,000, or both such fine and imprisonment.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 11 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1980–2025 · leading case: Commonwealth v. George W. Prescott Publ'g Co., 463 Mass. 258 (Mass. 2012).

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Commonwealth v. George W. Prescott Publ'g Co., 463 Mass. 258 (Mass. 2012). · cites it 8× “211, § 3, petition contending that the judge erred in vacating the order of impoundment because the affidavit contains “reports of rape” that are barred from disclosure pursuant to G. L. c. 41, § 97D. They argued also that disclosure would unduly prejudice O’Connell, in…”

Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court, 401 N.E.2d 360 (Mass. 1980). · cites it 2× “41, § 97B (rape victim reporting, prosecuting and counseling services); G.L.c. 41, § 97D (reports of rape and attempted sexual assault must be kept confidential); G.”

Doe v. Bell Atl. Bus. Sys. Servs., Inc., 162 F.R.D. 418 (D. Mass. 1995). “M.G.L. c. 41 § 97D, c. 112 § 12A½, c. 233, § 20J, e.”

Montefusco v. Commonwealth, 895 N.E.2d 478 (Mass. 2008). “See G. L. c. 41, § 97D; G. L. c. 265, § 24C. The case was submitted on briefs.”

Doe v. Bright Horizons Child.'s Centers, Inc., 8 Mass. L. Rptr. 616 (Mass. Super. Ct. 1998). · cites it 3× “G.L.c. 41, §97D and G.L.c. 265, §24C G.L.”

Doe v. Lyons, 6 Mass. L. Rptr. 274 (Mass. Super. Ct. 1996). · cites it 2× “Statements by others, such as the plaintiffs friends with her that night or other witnesses, may lead to the discovery of admissible evidence, may be used to refresh a witness’s recollection, or may contain prior inconsistent statements.”

Roman Catholic Bishop of Springfield v. Travelers Cas. & Sur. Co., 23 Mass. L. Rptr. 524 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2008). · cites it 4× “Reports of Rape and Sexual Assault Captain Higgins next maintains that the materials in Exhibit A and those referenced in Exhibit B are protected from disclosure under G.L.c. 41, §97D. That statute reads in pertinent part: All reports of rape and sexual assault or attempts to…”

Globe Newspaper Co. v. Clerk of Suffolk Cnty. Superior Court, 14 Mass. L. Rptr. 315 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2002). “G.L.c. 41, §97D. The legislative purpose is manifestfor many victims of sexual abuse, especially child sexual abuse, public revelation of the abuse, if not sought by them, victimizes them yet again.”

Attorney Gen. v. Dist. Attorney for the Plymouth Dist. (Mass. 2020). “111B, § 11 (alcohol treatment records "shall be confidential"); G. L. c. 41, § 97D (all reports of rape or sexual assault "shall not be public reports").”

Commonwealth v. Joseph Piard (Mass. App. Ct. 2025). “[8] The DNA report is not in the record, and so we cannot determine if Detective Goff accurately summarized its contents, or if it contained a "report[] of rape" that he was required to keep confidential, see G.”

Roman Catholic Bishop of Springfield v. Travelers Cas. & Sur. Co., 23 Mass. L. Rptr. 532 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2008). “Likewise, insofar as the materials include statements by victims of sexual abuse or reports or accounts of such sexual abuse which are protected from public inspection by G.L.c. 41, §97D, 3 that statute does not bar disclosure of these materials in a civil action under a court…”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.