State By State Summary of Statutes Of Limitations

[Jude]

It is a sad fact that most states have unreasonable statutes of limitations for civil actions for child sexual abuse. My state allows for six years from "the act" or six years from the "time of discovery". The "time of discovery" can be construed to be any point in the victim's life when he first recognizes the harm done by "the act". But the burden is on the victim to make that case. So a 40 year old man would have to prove in court that he didn't recognize the harm done to him by the sexual abuse until age 34 at the earliest, just to bring the suit. The deck is stacked against the victim. You can check your states law on this web site.

State By State Summary of Civil Statutes of Limitations for Child Sexual Abuse

 

[Canuck]

While the point about unreasonable statutes of limitations for civil actions is balls-on accurate, I'd be careful of that link.

I looked at what's listed there for California, and it's not correct.

The language they're listing for California is the language that applies if you are filing suit against someone who WHO SHOULD HAVE KNOWN that you were being abused, but DID NOTHING to stop it --- NOT the limitations for lawsuits against the actual perpetrator...

-- it's the statute that applies when you're suing a church for not taking action if you report sexual abuse by a priest there, for example.

The language listed states that you have one year after you've reasonably realized that there was damage to you, which is correct if you're suing someone who looked the other way, but it's THREE years from that point if you're suing the perp...

-- Better, but not great, as it's still a pretty hard thing to prove, and the defense will dig into your life to find out if you've discussed with anyone at any time along the way, or been treated for any kind of psych issues, etc....


Anyhow, my point is: whoever put that page together made *at least* one significant error, so use it as a launching point for your search, not the definitive answer!

Edit: I sent them email. Let's see if they fix it!

 

[unhappycamper]

State tort limitations are generally very short--sometimes as short as 60 days, e.g., for small claims like fender-benders--and can vary greatly depending on the nature of the claim. The traditional rationale is to bar older claims when the evidence has gone stale or missing. Sometimes the provisions that can extend or shorten limitations (e.g., rule of discovery, "serious" injury, age of majority) are tucked away in other statutes or even in case-law. Though there are undoubtedly other less salutary reasons, resistance to extending child abuse limitations is usually couched in terms of singling out "one kind" of tort for extremely different treatment.

If you have any doubt about info on your state or province's statute of limitations, call your local prosecutor's office. They have the skinny on civil limitations as well as criminal.

John