CONNECTICUT
CHILD SEX ABUSE SOLs
CURRENT CIVIL SOL
The civil SOL for CSA, trafficking, and CSAM claims is age 51, with revival up to age 48. A narrow exception eliminates the SOL for claims against any defendant, either individual perpetrator or other, if the perpetrator of the abuse has been criminally convicted of first-degree sexual assault.
CIVIL SOL SNAPSHOT
AGE CAP | CSA: AGE 51 TRAFFICKING: AGE 51 CSAM: AGE 51 |
REVIVAL LAW | REVIVAL UP TO AGE 48 |
DISCOVERY TOLLING | NONE |
Civil SOL History
| Age Cap | |
| Before 2002 | Before 2002, the CSA SOL was age 35.[i] |
| 2002 | Extended to age 48, including for CSAM and trafficking claims,[ii] and eliminated the SOL for any claim that led to a first degree aggravated or sexual assault conviction.[iii] |
| 2019 | Extended to age 51 (age of majority, 21, plus 30 years). This extension is prospective, meaning it only applies to actions based on conduct occurring after October 1, 2019, but it applies to non-minors ages 18, 19 and 20 too.[iv] |
| Revival Law | |
| 2002 | Revived all CSA claims until victims reach age 48 against all types of defendants.[v] Also, permanently revives claims when a perpetrator is convicted of first degree or aggravated sexual assault of minors or adults.[vi] |
| Discovery | |
| N/A | No common law or statutory discovery rule for CSA claims.[vii] |
[i] Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-577d (fifty-one-year SOL). In general, Connecticut has no common law or statutory discovery rule for sex abuse, but for claims of fraudulent concealment of a cause of action pursuant to section 52-595 the SOL does not begin to run until the existence of the cause of action is discovered. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-595 (fraudulent concealment); Rosado v. Bridgeport Roman Catholic Diocese Corp., 1997 WL 585779, at *2 (Conn. Super. Ct. Sept. 15, 1997) (concluding, “the seven plaintiffs concede[] that [they were] over the age of thirty-five when [they] brought suit against the defendants. Thus, they brought their legal actions beyond the statutory limitation period. Their actions are time-barred unless saved by some rule of law”).
[ii] See Doe #2 v. Rackliffe, 225 A.3d 842, at note 12 (Conn. 2020) (relying on the Black’s Law Dictionary definition of “sexual exploitation,” which explicitly includes child pornography).
[iii] Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 52-577d (2002) (age forty-eight SOL), 52-577e (2002) (sexual assault).
[iv] Id. at § 52-577d (2019) (age fifty-one SOL).
[v] Id. at §§ 52-577d (2002); Doe v. Boy Scouts of Am. Corp., 147 A.3d 104, 126 (Conn. 2016) (finding section 52-577d applies to actions against perpetrators and non-perpetrators).
[vi] Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 52-577d (age 51 SOL), 52-577e (sexual assault).
[vii] Id. at § 52-577d (2021) (stating, “no action to recover damages for personal injury to a person under twenty-one years of age, including . . . sexual abuse, sexual exploitation or sexual assault may be brought by such person later than thirty years from the date such person attains the age of twenty-one.”); Rosado, supra note 180, at *1 (determining that the seventeen-year period previously prescribed by section 52-577d “does not relate back to the time of discovery of an injury or to the accrual of a cause of action. Rather, it relates back to the time the plaintiff attained the age of majority.”). However, for claims of fraudulent concealment of a cause of action pursuant to section 52-595 the SOL does not begin to run until the existence of the cause of action is discovered. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-595 (fraudulent concealment); Rosado, supra note 180, at *2.
CURRENT CONNECTICUT CIVIL LAW
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-577d - Limitation of action for damages to person under twenty-one years of age caused by sexual abuse, exploitation or assault
Notwithstanding the provisions of section 52-577, no action to recover damages for personal injury to a person under twenty-one years of age, including emotional distress, caused by sexual abuse, sexual exploitation or sexual assault may be brought by such person later than thirty years from the date such person attains the age of twenty-one.
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-577e - Limitation of action for damages caused by sexual assault
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 52-577 and 52-577d, an action to recover damages for personal injury caused by sexual assault may be brought at any time after the date of the act complained of if the party legally at fault for such injury has been convicted of a violation of section 53a-70 or 53a-70a.
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-595 - Fraudulent concealment of cause of action
If any person, liable to an action by another, fraudulently conceals from him the existence of the cause of such action, such cause of action shall be deemed to accrue against such person so liable therefore at the time when the person entitled to sue thereon first discovers its existence.
Case law
CURRENT CRIMINAL SOL
CSA: There is no SOL for any felony or misdemeanor CSA offense, including sexual abuse and exploitation.
Trafficking: There is no SOL for trafficking offenses.
CSAM: The SOL for child pornography violations is 5 years from the offense.
CRIMINAL SOL SNAPSHOT
CSA | NO SOL |
TRAFFICKING | NO SOL |
CSAM | 5 YEARS FROM OFFENSE |
Criminal SOL History
| Age Cap | |
| 2002 | Had eliminated the criminal SOL for first degree sexual assault.[i] For all other sex abuse crimes, the SOL was age 48 (age of majority, 18, plus 30), or within 5 years of reporting to police, whichever was earlier.[ii] There was also a DNA statute which extended the SOL for sexual assault to 20 years from the offense.[iii] |
| 2006 | Added the crime of trafficking as a class B felony,[iv] which fell under the age 48 SOL. |
| 2007 | Eliminated the SOL for aggravated sexual assault of a minor.[v] Eliminated the SOL for sexual assault if there was a DNA match and the crime was reported within 5 years.[vi] |
| 2010 | Eliminated the SOL for felony criminal assistance of a person who commits sexual assault.[vii] |
| 2019 | Eliminated the SOL for any felony or misdemeanor offense against a minor involving sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, or sexual assault, including trafficking.[viii] |
[i] Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 54-193 (SOL), 53a-70c (aggravated sexual assault of a minor). The SOL was eliminated for Class A felonies, which included first degree sexual assault, first degree aggravated sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault of a minor.
[ii] Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 54-193 (2002) (SOL), 54-193a (2002) (SOL).
[iii] Id. at § 54-193b (2002) (DNA SOL).
[iv] Id. at § 53a-192a (2006) (trafficking).
[v] Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 54-193 (2007) (SOL), 53a-70c (2007) (aggravated sexual assault of a minor). The SOL was eliminated for Class A felonies, which included first degree sexual assault, first degree aggravated sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault of a minor.
[vi] Id. at § 54-193b (2007) (DNA SOL).
[vii] Id. at § 54-193a (2010) (SOL).
[viii] Id. at § 54-193 (SOL); S.B. 3, 2019 Gen. Assemb. Reg. Sess. (Conn. 2019).
CURRENT CONNECTICUT CRIMINAL LAW
Conn. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 54-193 - Limitation of prosecution for certain violations or offenses
(a) There shall be no limitation of time within which a person may be prosecuted for (1) (A) a capital felony under the provisions of section 53a-54b in effect prior to April 25, 2012, a class A felony or a violation of section 53a-54d or 53a-169, or (B) any other offense involving sexual abuse, sexual exploitation or sexual assault if the victim of the offense was a minor at the time of the offense, including, but not limited to, a violation of subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of section 53-21, (2) a violation of section 53a-165aa or 53a-166 in which such person renders criminal assistance to another person who has committed an offense set forth in subdivision (1) of this subsection, (3) a violation of section 53a-156 committed during a proceeding that results in the conviction of another person subsequently determined to be actually innocent of the offense or offenses of which such other person was convicted, or (4) a motor vehicle violation or offense that resulted in the death of another person and involved a violation of subsection (a) of section 14-224.
(b) (1) Except as provided in subsection (a) of this section or subdivision (2) of this subsection, no person may be prosecuted for a violation of a (A) class B felony violation of section 53a-70, 53a-70a or 53a-70b, (B) class C felony violation of section 53a-71 or 53a-72b, or (C) class D felony violation of section 53a-72a, as amended by this act, except within twenty years next after the offense has been committed.
(2) Except as provided in subsection (a) of this section, no person may be prosecuted for any offense involving sexual abuse, sexual exploitation or sexual assault of a victim if the victim was eighteen, nineteen or twenty years of age at the time of the offense, except not later than thirty years next after such victim attains the age of twenty-one years.
(3) No person may be prosecuted for a class A misdemeanor violation of section 53a-73a, as amended by this act, if the victim at the time of the offense was twenty-one years of age or older, except within ten years next after the offense has been committed.
(c) No person may be prosecuted for any offense, other than an offense set forth in subsection (a) or (b) of this section, for which the punishment is or may be imprisonment in excess of one year, except within five years next after the offense has been committed.
(d) No person may be prosecuted for any offense, other than an offense set forth in subsection (a), (b) or (c) of this section, except within one year next after the offense has been committed.
(e) If the person against whom an indictment, information or complaint for any of said offenses is brought has fled from and resided out of this state during the period so limited, it may be brought against such person at any time within such period, during which such person resides in this state, after the commission of the offense.
(f) When any suit, indictment, information or complaint for any crime may be brought within any other time than is limited by this section, it shall be brought within such time.
Conn. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 53a-70c - Aggravated sexual assault of a minor: Class A felony
(a) A person is guilty of aggravated sexual assault of a minor when such person commits a violation of subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of section 53-21 or section 53a-70, 53a-70a, 53a-71, 53a-86, 53a-87 or 53a-196a and the victim of such offense is under thirteen years of age, and (1) such person kidnapped or illegally restrained the victim, (2) such person stalked the victim, (3) such person used violence to commit such offense against the victim, (4) such person caused serious physical injury to or disfigurement of the victim, (5) there was more than one victim of such offense under thirteen years of age, (6) such person was not known to the victim, or (7) such person has previously been convicted of a violent sexual assault.
(b) Aggravated sexual assault of a minor is a class A felony and any person found guilty under this section shall, for a first offense, be sentenced to a term of imprisonment, twenty-five years of which may not be suspended or reduced by the court and, for any subsequent offense, be sentenced to a term of imprisonment of fifty years which may not be suspended or reduced by the court.
Conn. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 54-193b - Limitation of prosecution for sexual assault offenses when DNA evidence available
Notwithstanding the provisions of section 54-193, there shall be no limitation of time within which a person may be prosecuted for a violation of section 53a-70b of the general statutes, revision of 1958, revised to January 1, 2019, or section 53a-70, 53a-70a, 53a-71, 53a-72a or 53a-72b, provided (1) the victim notified any police officer or state’s attorney acting in such police officer’s or state’s attorney’s official capacity of the commission of the offense not later than five years after the commission of the offense, and (2) the identity of the person who allegedly committed the offense has been established through a DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) profile comparison using evidence collected at the time of the commission of the offense.
Case Law
The information provided is solely for informational purposes and is not legal advice. To determine the Connecticut SOL in a particular case, contact a lawyer in the state.
Last Updated: November 29, 2023