A statute of limitations is a law that prescribes how long someone has to file a legal complaint or initiate a lawsuit. They apply to both civil and criminal matters. Each state has its own statutes of limitations that depend on the type of legal action at issue.
Florida has separate statutes of limitations for sexual abuse. One set of laws is for civil lawsuits, and one for criminal cases. The civil statutes state the amount of time that a private person has to file a civil lawsuit against their abuser if they are seeking compensation for harm caused by sexual abuse. The criminal statute, on the other hand, gives the local government prosecutor a time frame in which they must file criminal charges against the abuser.
In Florida, as in other states, a statute of limitations is an absolute bar to initiating a legal case after a date set by the statute. The date is usually based on the time that had passed from the date when the offense was committed or the action that gives rise to a case that occurred.
In Florida, there are no statutes of limitations for some forms of sexual abuse. For instance, there is no statute of limitations for statutory rape in Florida if the child is under 16 years of age. This law becomes less clear when the minor is older than 16 years of age but under 18 years of age, and various conditions apply depending on the facts of a case.
In addition, the term “sexual abuse” is often used to reference a broad range of sexual misconduct. In Florida, sexual abuse crimes are actually classified as “sexual battery.” Thus, acts that fall under sexual abuse in most states will be categorized as sexual battery in Florida. This is true for the rape statute of limitations in Florida. It is included in the crime of sexual battery.
What Is Florida’s Statute of Limitation for Civil Sexual Abuse Lawsuits?
As discussed above, sexual abuse is called “sexual battery” in Florida. In order to file a civil lawsuit for sexual battery (e.g., rape, incest, etc.), the victim must bring an action within the following time limits:
- Within 7 years after the victim reaches the age of majority, which is 18 years of age in Florida;
- Within 4 years from the time that the person discovers a link between a related injury and the abuse, or within 4 years from when the victim abandons and stops depending on the abuser; or
- If the minor is under 18 years of age, then there is no statute of limitations.
Also, in light of recent events, many states have either waived or suspended their civil statutes of limitations for child molestation. In June of 2020, Florida passed new legislation entitled “Donna’s Law.”
This law removes the statute of limitations for prosecuting acts of sexual battery committed against children who are younger than 18 years of age. However, the law will only have an effect on those crimes committed on July 1, 2020, or after.
Prior to its passing, the statute of limitations was only waived if the victim was a minor below the age of 16. The old law also specified conditions for how long a minor between the ages of 16 and under 18 had to report sexual misconduct. It gave minors within that age group a 72-hour window to tell law enforcement or else risk not being able to file a lawsuit.
Minors who did report a crime within that window then had 3 years until the statute of limitations tolled.
However, it is important to keep in mind that even if a person may have several years to file a civil lawsuit for sexual abuse in Florida, a victim should not wait to move forward with their lawsuit. The first step is to consult an experienced local Florida lawyer about their case.
There are a number of good reasons for this. A person’s chances of experiencing success with their lawsuit decrease with time. It is not easy to prove claims of sexual abuse, and proof does not become easier if years have passed since the time the abuse took place. People’s memories fade, and physical evidence may become damaged or destroyed.
Even if a person waits for only a few months before they consult a lawyer, critical evidence could still be lost, destroyed, or contaminated. The testimony of witnesses may become less reliable as a person waits. The testimony of a witness becomes less believable if they are questioned about events that happened years before a trial. Witnesses might move away or become unavailable for other reasons.
Improving a victim’s chance of success with a civil sexual battery lawsuit makes it much more likely that their lawsuit will bring them the award of compensatory damages that they deserve.
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What Is Florida’s Statute of Limitation for Criminal Sexual Abuse Cases?
In Florida, there is a statute of limitations for any sexual battery crime in which the victim is a minor under the age of 16. Only two sexual battery crimes in which the victim is a minor aged 16 or 17 years have a 3-year statute of limitations under current law:
- Sexual battery without the use of physical force and violence likely to cause serious personal injury, which is a second-degree felony;
- Solicitation of sexual battery by a person with family or custodial authority to a person less than 18 years of age, which is a third-degree felony.
For these two crimes, the statute of limitations does not start to run until the earlier of the date that the minor reaches the age of 18 or the crime is reported to law enforcement.
Finally, a sexual battery may be charged as either a first-degree or second-degree felony and may have been reported to the police within 72 hours after it has taken place. In that case, then there is no applicable statute of limitations.
For sexual battery crimes against victims who are 18 years old or older, current Florida law provides that if the crime is reported to law enforcement within 72 hours of the time when it is committed, there is no statute of limitations.
The crime might not have been reported within 72 hours. If this is the case, the statute of limitations is either four years for first-degree felony sexual battery or three years for second-degree felony sexual battery.
In addition to the statutes of limitations for minors and adults, a person accused of one of these crimes may be prosecuted within 1 year after the date on which the identity of the perpetrator is determined or should have been determined by one of the following:
- The exercise of due diligence;
- DNA analysis of evidence.
Do I Need to Hire an Attorney for a Sexual Abuse Case?
If you are a victim of sexual abuse and want to take civil action against your abuser, you want to consult a Florida personal injury lawyer. LegalMatch.com can connect you to a lawyer who can explain Florida’s statutes of limitations laws and how they apply to your case. If you are not barred from filing under the statute, then your attorney can represent you in preparing and filing your case. Your lawyer will be able to act quickly to preserve any vital evidence.
If you have not reported the crime to the police, your lawyer may be able to help you deal with law enforcement as well.
You could have been charged with a sexual battery crime in Florida. If so, you want to consult a Florida criminal defense attorney as soon as possible for guidance in defending yourself from criminal prosecution.
