BOSTON —

When Melissa Fares was 16, she got a new high school advisor, she told lawmakers.

"That year he orally raped me under his classroom table," she said, testifying at a legislative hearing earlier this year. "After I turned 17, he raped me again in his classroom closet on a yoga mat," she told lawmakers.

Hilary Simon, who also attended Miss Hall's School in Pittsfield, testified about the same teacher.

"The power imbalance was deliberate and he took full advantage of it. Calculated, and practiced. He knew exactly what he was doing," Simon said.

Last year, they went to police to report what happened to them, but were told that because they were 16 or older at the time, sex between a teacher and student in Massachusetts isn't a crime.

"For more than 30 years, this man preyed on s

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