Politics & Government

State Leaders Seek To Close Sexual Assault 'Howie Leung Loophole'

2 bills propose changing New Hampshire's sexual assault statute to allow charges against educators for kissing and fondling of age students.

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New Hampshire Statehouse.
New Hampshire Statehouse. (Tony Schinella | Patch)

CONCORD, NH — Legislators and advocates are supporting two state Senate bills they hope will close a provision in New Hampshire's sexual assault laws that allow officials in positions of authority to have consensual kissing and touching with children older than the age of consent of 16 that they have authority over, without facing criminal charges. The bills, SB 572 and SB 468, hope to close what has been nicknamed, the "Howie Leung Loophole," due to a Concord High School teacher, Primo "Howie" Leung, being accused of inappropriate behavior with a student who was 18, in December 2018 in Concord. The accusation led to an internal investigation but Leung was allowed to continue teaching in his class, for many months.

After a former school superintendent brought documents to the New Hampshire Department of Education for review, to see if there were any violations of the state's new Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics provisions for educators, finalized and implemented about a month before the inappropriate behavior accusation, the department contacted Concord police and began its own investigation of the situation.

Those investigations led to rape charges against Leung in Massachusetts.

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SB 572, which had bipartisan sponsorship, including state Sens. Dan Feltes, D-Concord, and Martha Hennessey, D-Hanover, seeks to add "employee at a primary or secondary educational institution and is in a possession of authority over the victim" as well as expanded "sexual contact" definitions, to include fondling and kissing, to the state's aggravated felonious sexual assault statute. SB 468, which also has bipartisan support, proposes to add age definitions of 13 to 17 to another section on the aggravated felonious sexual assault statute as well as defining fondling and kissing as sexual contact definitions.

In a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Gov. Chris Sununu expressed support for both bills urging members "to find the most comprehensive language to close this loophole in our law and ensure that sexual contact by an actor who is in a position of authority over a teen is expressly criminalized — whether or not the actor or the teen claims that the act was consensual." He added that he was "extremely concerned" when he learned about the Leung case and said any incidents of the sort "should always be reported to the Board of Education and local law enforcement."

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The NH Coalition Against Domestic & Sexual Violence also offered support for the bills because they would close the so-called "Howie Leung Loophole." The organization, said Amanda Grady-Sexton, the org's director of public affairs, was shocked the Concord School District pointed to the consent loophole in the law requiring the state to prove coercion as well as the fact that Leung was never charged for inappropriate behavior with the adult student in New Hampshire.

"It’s critical that we amend our laws to close a dangerous loophole that allows teachers and coaches to engage in sexual contact with the teens who they are supposed to be protecting," Grady-Sexton said. "Too many predators choose jobs and volunteer work that allows them access to vulnerable children, and we must have laws that hold them accountable for this gross misuse of their power. Every teen in NH should have the right to learn without being subject to the sexual advances of their teachers or coaches."

Both bills were heard in committee Friday. A number of speakers including Kate Frey, the mother of Ana Goble, who was suspended from Rundlett Middle School in 2014 after raising concerns about Leung's behavior, testified in favor of the bill. Darlene Gildersleeve of the group Protect Concord Students Now also supported the changes citing the district's lack of reporting of the Leung incident to Concord police or the department of education due to no proof of coercion.

"An adult who is in a position of power over a teenager must understand that our children are off limits to their sexual desires, and that their authority over kids makes it impossible for these teens to willingly enter into a romantic or sexual relationship with them," she said. "Period."

After advocates testified in favor of SB 572 Friday, Hennessey offered thanks.

"It is our job to ensure New Hampshire schools are safe places to learn and that our students are not subject to inappropriate behavior or sexual assault by the adults placed in a position of authority over them," she said. "I appreciate the advocates who came out to testify today and look forward to shepherding this bill through the legislative process."

While the educator Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics do not include criminal charges, they have expanded definitions of inappropriate behavior that could lead to teachers and others losing their credentials to be employed at public schools in the state. After the state passed laws in 2017 to create the provisions, officials in the department spent years working with educators, school officials, unions, and organizations to clarify the language of the ed. rules. The codes also include provisions for witnesses or colleagues who are credentialed to also come forward and report incidents or suspicious, similar to the law enforcement's see something, say something initiative.

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