Child Sexual Abuse and Criminal Statutes of Limitation: A Model for Reform Comment 65 Washington Law Review 1990

65 Wash. L. Rev. 189 (1990)
Child Sexual Abuse and Criminal Statutes of Limitation: A Model for Reform

handle is hein.journals/washlr65 and id is 203 raw text is: Copyright © 1990 by Washington Law Review Association

CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE AND CRIMINAL
STATUTES OF LIMITATION: A MODEL
FOR REFORM
Abstract Many states permit courts to toll criminal statutes of limitation in a child
sexual abuse case if the victim is under a minimum age, or if the offender prevents the
victim from reporting the abuse. Twenty-four states have no such tolling provision, how-
ever, and their state courts have not devised a common law solution to avoid the problem
of time-barred prosecutions. This Comment examines child sexual abuse in the context of
state criminal law. It concludes that statutes of limitation present a formidable obstacle to
the successful prosecution of perpetrators of child sexual abuse, and proposes a model
legislative amendment to toll states' criminal statutes of limitation.
Perpetrators of child sexual abuse escape prosecution for their acts
when the abuser uses threats and coercion to prevent the victim from
reporting the offense until after the statute of limitation has expired, or
when the victim is too young to report the abuse within the statutory
period. Consider the following facts:
The sexual contacts began when Susan was five years old and her
brother Tom was seventeen. In the next three years, the abuse progressed
from touching to oral sex to intercourse. Although Tom stopped having
intercourse with Susan when she was ten, other acts of abuse and threats
of harm continued until she was fourteen. Her brother often threatened
to shoot her if she told anyone about the abuse. Frightened, Susan main-
tained her silence. Eventually she told her parents about the abuse, but
they merely punished her for lying. When Susan was seventeen she
learned that Tom also had abused her younger sisters. Distressed, she
told a school counselor about her abuse and a complaint was filed with
local police. Tom was prosecuted and convicted. His conviction was over-
turned, however, because the statute of limitation had expired. 1
If Susan lived in Oregon, Utah, or any one of another twenty-two
states,2 criminal charges could not be brought against Tom. In Ore-
gon, for example, criminal charges would be barred by the state's three
year statute of limitation for Rape of a Child.' Similarly, in Utah,
charges would be barred by the state's four year statute of limitation
for most felony offenses.4 Although other acts of abuse continued
1. Adapted from State v. Shamp, 422 N.W.2d 736 (Minn. Ct. App.), rev'd 427 N.W.2d 228
(Minn. 1988) (overturning conviction for sexual abuse because charges were brought after statute
of limitation had expired).
2. See infra note 12.
3. OR. REv. STAT. § 131.125 (Supp. 1988).
4. UTAH CODE ANN. § 76-1-302(l)(a) (1978). A prosecution for murder, manslaughter, or a
capital felony may be commenced at any time. Id. § 76-1-301.

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