State Rep. Peter Koutoujian said the House will work quickly to close a legal loophole that led the state's high court Friday to overturn the conviction of a man accused of sending sexually explicit messages to a minor.
``I'm concerned about how many other cases may be overturned based on this decision,'' said Koutoujian, D-Waltham. ``So we need to act pretty quickly to protect our children.''
Matthew Zubiel of Beverly was convicted in 2007 of attempting to disseminate harmful material to a minor after being arrested in Marshfield the year before.
Authorities said Zubiel thought he was going to meet a 13-year-old girl for sex after sending her sexually explicit instant messages.
The ``girl'' was really a Plymouth County deputy sheriff.
Zubiel's attorney argued instant messages were not illegal because state law bans only printed material, handwritten or ``visual representations,'' but not typewritten words.
The Supreme Judicial Court agreed, and in a unanimous decision Friday said only the Legislature could expand the law to include instant messaging.
Koutoujian, a former prosecutor for the Middlesex County District Attorney's office, said, however, the way the law is currently written it was ``well within the court's discretion'' to decline to overturn Zubiel's conviction.
``That being said, it's incumbent upon us to make this law more clear,'' Koutoujian said.
He has already crafted a bill seeking to curb cyber-bullying, and believes language from his bill - that would make sending sexually explicit messages to minors illegal - could be ``cut and pasted'' into the current state statute, thus closing the loophole.
Koutoujian said he's already talked to House Speaker Robert DeLeo and the state Attorney General's office to see the if the amendment could be moved through the House rapidly, possibly as soon as this week.
``I think this is one that will be addressed pretty quickly,'' Koutoujian said.
Richard Conn can be contacted at 781-398-8004 or rconn@cnc.com.
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
WALTHAM —
