{"data":{"id":"us-ma/mass.-gen.-laws-ch.-278-16a","jurisdiction":"us-ma","citation":"Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 278, § 16A","heading":"Exclusion of public from trial for sex offenses involving minors under age of eighteen","body":"Section 16A. At the trial of a complaint or indictment for rape, incest, carnal abuse or other crime involving sex, where a minor under eighteen years of age is the person upon, with or against whom the crime is alleged to have been committed, or at the trial of a complaint or indictment for getting a woman with child out of wedlock, or for the non-support of a child born out of wedlock, the presiding justice shall exclude the general public from the court room, admitting only such persons as may have a direct interest in the case.","path":["Part IV","Title II","Chapter 278"],"source_url":"https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIV/TitleII/Chapter278/Section16A","current_through":"amendments passed before May 31, 2026","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-17T05:25:22Z","sha256":"5b16090914d6df2b1c8361288735ddb3c7cccf3daa89b8dc3cf95850339c994e","source_id":"us-ma","stale":false,"prev":"us-ma/mass.-gen.-laws-ch.-278-16","next":"us-ma/mass.-gen.-laws-ch.-278-16b"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}