OLR Report 2012-R-0136 summarizes the arguments raised during the floor debate on PA 02-138 for and against extending the statute of limitations for prosecuting sex crimes with child victims. It also provides information on what the statutes of limitations are in other states.
Among other things, PA 02-138 (An Act Concerning Sexual Assault of a Minor) extended Connecticut's statute of limitations for prosecuting sexually-based offenses with child victims from two to 30 years after the victim reaches age 18 but retained a requirement that the prosecution be within five years of the date he or she notifies any police officer or state's attorney of the crime. PA 02-138 passed both chambers without substantive debate on the pros and cons of passage. But legislators debating a similar bill in the 2001 session presented arguments for and against this change. The primary arguments in support were to protect innocent, young victims. The arguments against centered on a provision that would have applied the new period of limitations retroactively.
We examined the statutes of limitations for child sexual abuse crimes in the New England states. This report focuses on the period of limitations for child sexual abuse, which includes such offenses as unlawful sexual contact, rape, child molestation, sexual assault, and the intent to commit any of these crimes against a child under age 18.
The limitations periods vary by state and within states based on a number of factors such as the victim's age, the relationship of the offender to the victim, whether the offender remains in the state, and when the crime is reported to the police. The periods ranges from six years after commission of sexual assault or abuse of a victim between ages 16 and 18 in Maine and Vermont to no period of limitation for rape, aggravated sexual assault, and sexual abuse of a child under age 16 in Rhode Island, Vermont, and Maine, respectively. No period of limitations means the crime may be prosecuted at any time.
For more information, read the full report.
