By ALYSSA DANDREA
Monitor staff
Wednesday, February 08, 2017
A House committee recommended unanimously Wednesday to kill a bill that would require corroboration of a victim’s testimony in certain sexual assault cases.
House Bill 106 met strong opposition at a public hearing last month, where law enforcement officials, prosecutors and sexual assault survivors said the bill would protect sexual predators and cause more children harm.
Republican Reps. Jess Edwards and William March wrote a letter to committee members a few days after the hearing to say they would understand if the bill didn’t survive. They said they had spoken with dozens of people, and that an “overwhelming number” expressed concern about the message the bill would send.
March said he introduced the bill after learning about the case of Foad Afshar, a Concord psychologist who was convicted of sexually molesting a young patient during a therapy session. March’s daughter was a student of Afshar’s at the New Hampshire Institute of Art and brought the case to his attention.
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