CURRENT LAWS
FOR CHILD PROTECTION
CHILD USA tracks laws that put children at risk so that we can study and improve those laws to prevent abuse and neglect.
Click on the map below for each state’s statutes of limitation (SOLs) for child sex abuse, age of marriage, medical neglect, and religious liberty statutes:
**This data is available to license. For more infomation, please contact info@childusa.org.
CHILD USA’s Legal Team
Marci Hamilton, Esq.
Founder & Chief Visionary Officer
Jessica Schidlow, Esq., MA, NCC
Legal Director
CHILD USA’s Legal Reports
LEGAL & REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS FOR ADDRESSING AI-GENERATED CSAM IN THE U.S. & CANADA
This report offers a comprehensive doctrinal analysis of U.S. and Canadian laws related to the creation, possession, and distribution of AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM). It evaluates both criminal and civil liability frameworks, as well as regulatory responsibilities of developers, dataset holders, and online service providers. The report also explores current legislative proposals on AI governance, identifying legal gaps and proposing reforms to better safeguard children against new forms of digital exploitation.
The findings from this report were used to contextualize and inform the broader comparative analysis across Five Eyes nations as part of a study included in the Childlight Global Child Safety Institute’s Searchlight 2025 Report: Who Benefits? Shining a Light on the Business of Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse.
Specifically, it informed Study F – Legal Challenges in Tackling AI-Generated Child Sexual Abuse Material Across the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand: Who Is Accountable Under the Law?
CHILD SEX ABUSE STATUTES OF LIMITATION TREATISE (2002 TO 2024)
A resource book outlining everything you need to start your statutes of limitation legal research for every U.S. jurisdiction, including federal, state, and U.S. territories.
CHILD USA has diligently tracked SOL Reform in all 50 states for years! Our Legal team has compiled your go-to resource book to get started on your SOL legal research. Topics include:
Civil CSA SOLs since 2002
Criminal CSA SOLs since 2002
Tolling theories
Discovery rules
Trafficking
CSAM
Rankings
Revival laws
State-by-state comparisons
and more!
With the CSA SOL Treatise and our weekly updated SOL Tracker, we have what you need in your cases to start your statutes of limitation legal research for every U.S. jurisdiction, including federal, state, and U.S. territories.
Visit the 2024 SOL TRACKER
CHILD USA leads the national SOL reform movement and tracks every SOL reform bill for child sex abuse introduced in state legislatures across the country. Our SOL Tracker provides an overview of all pending bills and new laws and is updated on a weekly basis. It also highlights states that have eliminated SOLs and revived expired claims.
2024 Report National Overview on the State of Children’s Rights to Education in America
At CHILD USA, we believe every child deserves a quality education that leads to a brighter future. Our new report, “National Overview on the State of Children’s Rights to Education in America,” uncovers significant gaps in educational oversight, particularly for children in homeschooling and private school environments.
With 33% of states not recognizing “educational neglect” in their laws, millions of children are at risk of being left behind. Our report provides a comprehensive look at K-12 education across the U.S. and ranks states based on their children’s educational rights protections.
This report is intended to be used as a reference for lawmakers, advocates, researchers, educators, and the public to better understand the existing laws, identify gaps and disparities therein, and develop strategies to protect and enhance children’s educational rights, including but not limited to, adoption of CHILD USA’s policy recommendations.
RETHINKING CHAPTER 11 FOR MASS CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE CLAIMS: SHIFTING THE FOCUS FROM DEBTOR INSTITUTIONS TO THE VICTIMS
There is no one quick fix to make Chapter 11 a proceeding that is a safe space for victims and a process to educate the public on the prevalence and long-lasting effects of child sexual abuse. Bankruptcy law was designed to provide an honest debtor reprieve from debilitating debt, and Chapter 11 to enable an organization to remain operational until it can restructure its debts through a reorganization plan.
Instead, Chapter 11 has been used as an avenue for institutions facing mass tort claims to avoid being financially crushed from the outcomes of those claims while also evading their responsibility for the lifelong harms caused to their victims. Specifically, youth-serving organizations that are alleged and proven to have played a role in child sexual abuse cases continue to seek refuge in the bankruptcy system, creating significant problems for the victims seeking, not just financial compensation, but answers related to the failures of the institutions to protect them.
Legislative reform to Chapter 11 is required to shift the role of bankruptcy law from merely assisting the responsible organizations in improving their financial state and escaping liability, to ensuring that these institutions are held accountable and victims of child sexual abuse secure fair outcomes.
A REPORT ON U.S. REVIVAL WINDOWS AND AGE LIMIT REVIVAL LAWS
An overview of all window and age limit revival laws for child sex abuse in the United States, which includes laws in 33 U.S. Jurisdictions, including 30 States and 3 Territories. Revival windows are now open in Arkansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, New York City, Vermont, Northern Mariana Islands, and Guam. Limited windows are also open in Ohio, Indiana, Alabama, and Iowa only for Boy Scout survivors. Several states have revived claims until a survivor reaches a certain age, ranging from 27-55 years old.
The Relative Success of State Windows for Child Sexual Abuse Claims
Read about the relative success of state windows for child sexual abuse claims here.
The Relative Success Memo documents the success of state revival windows for child sexual abuse claims both in the total number of lawsuits filed under each window and the public identification of previously unknown predators and enabling institutions.
A NATIONAL OVERVIEW OF CHILD MARRIAGE DATA AND LAW – a comprehensive report on child marriage in the United States.
The current worldwide total number of child marriage is about 755 million, and while many people cling to the flawed assumption that child marriage is not an American issue although, almost 300,000 children were married in the US alone between 2000 and 2018. Thus, they are at higher risk for harms including death, serious health issues, and physical and sexual violence.
- Mandatory age floors set at 18
- Proof of age and residency requirements (currently, only 22 states strictly require official proof of age)
- The elimination of parental and judicial consent exceptions.
DELAYED DISCLOSURE OF CHILD SEX ABUSE FACTSHEET
WHAT IS DELAYED DISCLOSURE?
Disclosure refers to when a victim of child sexual abuse (CSA) tells someone about the abuse they endured, whether a peer, to a parent, another adult, or the authorities. Not all victims disclose, but for the CSA victims who do disclose, the vast majority need decades to come forward.
CHILD USA analyzed data on disclosure to explain why this “complex, lifelong process” can take decades or may never occur.
Family members, lawmakers, and investigators need to understand the facts about disclosure so they can support victims who come forward and help them seek justice. The public also needs this information to protect kids and prevent child sex abuse.
By the time most victims are able to come forward, the arbitrary deadlines for pressing charges or suing perpetrators and responsible institutions—known as statutes of limitation (SOL)—have expired. These short SOLs silence victims, assist perpetrators, and aid in institutional cover-ups.
REPORT ON ENFORCING THE RIGHTS OF CHILDREN IN MIGRATION
A Preliminary Report on the New York Child Victims Act
Read more about the New York Child Victims Act and why statute of limitations reform serves the public interest, here.
2021 Supreme Court Cases Relevant to Children
Read more about the cases reviewed by the United States Supreme Court this year, here.
BACKGROUND: Pennsylvania lawmakers have debated whether to provide justice to child sex abuse victims since 2005 when Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham released the groundbreaking Grand Jury Report on child sex abuse in the Philadelphia Archdiocese. There have been numerous hearings on bills introduced to enact a statutory window, support from one editorial board after another, and dozens of op-eds in support.
The nation’s leading constitutional expert on this issue, Penn professor, and former United States Supreme Court clerk, Marci A. Hamilton, has testified in every state to enact a window and defended window constitutionality across the United States including in Pennsylvania.
Click here for an analysis of the constitutionality of revival windows.
Click here for an outline of Pennsylvania caselaw showing that a revival window is constitutional.
Click here to see why Pennsylvania needs a revival window.
RELIGIOUS EXEMPTIONS TO MEDICAL CARE
An explanation of religious exemptions to medical care and why they need to be eliminated
We are investigating the states with inadequate protection laws against child sex abuse, maltreatment, physical abuse, and neglect.
The information regarding child protection laws provided is solely for informational purposes and is not legal advice. To determine the law in a particular sex abuse or maltreatment case, contact a lawyer in the state.
AVAILABLE NOW: Child Sex Abuse Statutes of Limitation Treatise: 2002 to Today
A resource book outlining everything you need to start your statutes of limitation legal research.
Request An Annual Statutes of Limitation Report