MAINE
CHILD SEX ABUSE SOLs
CURRENT CIVIL SOL
Summary: There is no civil SOL for CSA, trafficking, and CSAM claims, and all claims against all defendants are permanently revived.
CIVIL SOL SNAPSHOT
AGE CAP | CSA: NONE TRAFFICKING: NONE CSAM: NONE |
REVIVAL LAW | PERMANENT WINDOW (Never Closes) |
DISCOVERY TOLLING | NONE |
Civil SOL History
| Age Cap | |
| 2000 | Eliminated the civil SOL for CSA, CSAM, and trafficking.[i] CSAM and trafficking claims that do not involve direct sexual contact have an SOL of age 24 (age of minority, 18, plus 6 years).[ii] |
| Revival Law | |
| 2021 | Opened a permanent revival window on October 18, 2021, reviving all previously expired CSA, CSAM, and trafficking claims against all types of defendants.[iii] |
| Discovery | |
| Common Law | No recognized common law discovery rule for CSA.[iv] |
| Statutory | The original 1989 discovery statute set the SOL at 3 years from discovery, and in 1991, it was extended to 6 years from discovery.[v] The discovery rule ran from “the time the person discovers or reasonably should have discovered the harm.”[vi] Claims that were already expired as of 1989 were not revived by the discovery statute.[vii] It was not settled whether the statute also applied to claims against non-perpetrators.[viii] That rule was eliminated in 2000, when the SOL was eliminated but it was unsettled whether older claims that were not expired in 1989 could be tolled in reliance on the 1989-2000 discovery rule that was in effect.[ix] In 2021, Maine revived all expired CSA claims no matter how long ago they were discovered, so the discovery statute is no longer relevant.[x] |
[i] Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 14, § 752-C (2000) (no SOL), tit. 17, §§ 2923 & 2924 (1994) (sexual exploitation of minors), 853 (1976) (promotion of prostitution).
[ii] Id. at tit. 14, §§ 752 (6-year SOL), 752-C, 853 (minority tolling), tit. 17-A, § 251(1)(C)(D) (expressly requiring physical contact to be considered a “sexual act” and/or “sexual contact” under the CSA SOL).
[iii] Id. at § 752-C (2021) (permanent revival window); 2021 Me. Legis. Serv. Ch. 301 (H.P. 432).
[iv] Harkness v. Fitzgerald, 701 A.2d 370, 372 (Me. 1997) (declining to adopt discovery rule for CSA); McAfee v. Cole, 637 A.2d 463, 466 (Me. 1994) (stating, “[w]e decline from the circumstances of this case to announce a judicially crafted discovery rule applicable to the predecessor of section 752–C.”) (citing Bozzuto v. Ouellette, 408 A.2d 697 (Me. 1979))).
[v] Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 14, § 752-C (2000). See id. at § 752-C (1991).
[vi] Id. at § 752-C (2000).
[vii] McAfee, supra note 442, at 466.
[viii] See Picher, supra note 436, at 102 (declining to address whether section 752-C is applicable to the Diocese); Fortin supra note 438, at 1214; Allen v. Forest, 257 F.Supp.2d 276, 280 (D. Me. 2003) (certifying the following question to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court: “Is 14 M.R.S.A. § 752-C applicable to claims against parties other than the perpetrator of the sexual acts toward minors that provide the factual basis for those claims?”). But see Keene v. Maine Dep’t of Corr., No. 1:17-CV-00403-JDL, 2018 WL 1737940, at *3 (D. Me. Apr. 11, 2018).
[ix] Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 14, § 752-C (2021).
[x] Id. at § 752-C (2021) (permanent revival window); 2021 Me. Legis. Serv. Ch. 301 (H.P. 432).
CURRENT MAINE CIVIL LAW
Me. Rev. Stat. Ann. tit. 14§ 752-C - Sexual acts towards minors
1. No limitation. Actions based upon sexual acts toward minors may be commenced at any time.
2. Sexual acts toward minors defined. As used in this section, “sexual acts toward minors” means the following acts that are committed against or engaged in with a person under the age of majority:
A. Sexual act, as defined in Title 17-A, section 251, subsection 1, paragraph C; or
B. Sexual contact, as defined in Title 17-A, section 251, subsection 1, paragraph D.
3. Application. This section applies to all actions based upon sexual acts toward minors regardless of the date of the sexual act and regardless of whether the statute of limitations on such actions expired prior to the effective date of this subsection.
Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 14, § 853 - Persons under disability may bring action when disability removed
If a person entitled to bring any of the actions under sections 752 to 754, including section 752-C, and under sections 851 and 852 and Title 24, section 2902 and, until July 1, 2017, section 2902-B is a minor, mentally ill, imprisoned or without the limits of the United States when the cause of action accrues, the action may be brought within the times limited herein after the disability is removed.
Case law
CURRENT CRIMINAL SOL
Summary:
CSA: There is no SOL for certain CSA crimes, an SOL of either 6 or 20 years from the offense for remaining felonies, and an SOL of 3 years from the offense for misdemeanors.
Trafficking: There is no SOL for trafficking.
CSAM: There is no SOL for CSAM violations that include intentionally subjecting the victim to sexual contact. Remaining CSAM offenses have an SOL of either 3 or 6 years, depending on the seriousness of the crime.
CRIMINAL SOL SNAPSHOT
CSA | NO SOL |
TRAFFICKING | NO SOL |
CSAM | NO SOL |
Criminal SOL History
| Age Cap | |
| 2002 | No criminal SOL for the following felonies and misdemeanors committed against victims under age 16: incest, unlawful sexual contact, sexual abuse of a minor (which included trafficking and some CSAM claims),[i] rape, and gross sexual assault. For all other claims, including CSAM and felonies committed against victims age 16 and older, the SOL was 3 or 6 years from the offense.[ii] |
| 2013 | Extended the SOL for victims ages 16 and older for felony unlawful sexual contact or gross sexual assault to 8 years from the offense.[iii] |
| 2019 | Extended the SOL further for victims ages 16 and older for felony unlawful sexual contact or gross sexual assault to 20 years from the offense.[iv] |
[i] Id. at tit. 17-A §§ 254 (1)(F) (2003) (including “intentionally subject[ing] another person . . . who is either 14 or 15 years of age to any sexual contact and the actor is at least 10 years older than the person” in the definition of sexual abuse of minors), 282 (2003) (sexual exploitation of minor involves “knowing or intenting that the conduct will be photographed, the person intentionally or knowingly . . . compels another person . . . who is in fact a minor, to engage in sexually explicit conduct”), 851(2)(F) (1995) (“promoting prostitution” includes “transporting a person into or within the State with the intent that such other person engage in prostitution”).
[ii] Id. at § 8 (2002) (SOL); 17-A § 284 (2003) (possession of sexually explicit material involving a minor between the ages of 12 and 16 is considered a Class D crime with an SOL of 3 years, but if material involves a minor younger than 12, it is considered a Class C crime with an SOL of 6 years). See also id. at § 283 (delineating the various classes of crimes for dissemination of sexually explicit material).
[iii] Id. at § 8 (2013) (SOL).
[iv] Id. at § 8 (2019) (SOL).
CURRENT MAINE STATE LAW
Me. Rev. Stat. tit. 17-A, § 8 - Statute of Limitations
1.It is a defense that prosecution was commenced after the expiration of the applicable period of limitations provided in this section, except that the following prosecutions may be commenced at any time:
A. A prosecution for murder or criminal homicide in the first or 2nd degree; or
B. If the victim had not attained the age of 16 years at the time of the crime, a prosecution for incest; unlawful sexual contact; sexual abuse of a minor; or rape or gross sexual assault, formerly denominated as gross sexual misconduct.
2.Except as provided in subsection 1 or 2-A, a prosecution for a Class A, Class B or Class C crime must be commenced within 6 years after it is committed and a prosecution for a Class D or Class E crime must be commenced within 3 years after it is committed. A and B. Deleted. Laws 2019, c. 483, § 2, eff. Sept. 19, 2019. Text of subsec. 2-A, as amended by Laws 2019, c. 113, § C-57.
2-A. A prosecution for a Class A, Class B or Class C crime involving unlawful sexual contact or gross sexual assault must be commenced within 8 years after it is committed.
2-A. A prosecution for a Class A, Class B or Class C crime involving unlawful sexual contact or gross sexual assault must be commenced within 20 years after it is committed.
This subsection does not apply to a Class D crime enhanced to a Class C crime pursuant to section 1252, subsection 4-A.
3.The periods of limitations shall not run:
A. During any time when the accused is absent from the State, but in no event shall this provision extend the period of limitation otherwise applicable by more than 5 years; B. During any time when a prosecution against the accused for the same crime based on the same conduct is pending in this State; or C. During any time when a prosecution against the accused for the corresponding juvenile crime based on the same conduct is pending in the Juvenile Court. For purposes of this section, pending includes any appeal period and, if an appeal is taken, any period pending its final disposition.
4.If a timely complaint, information or indictment is dismissed for any error, defect, insufficiency or irregularity, a new prosecution for the same crime based on the same conduct may be commenced within 6 months after the dismissal, or during the next session of the grand jury, whichever occurs later, even though the periods of limitations have expired at the time of such dismissal or will expire within such period of time.
5.If the period of limitation has expired, a prosecution may nevertheless be commenced for:
A. Any crime based upon breach of fiduciary obligation, within one year after discovery of the crime by an aggrieved party or by a person who has a legal duty to represent an aggrieved party, and who is not a party to the crime, whichever occurs first; B. Any crime based upon official misconduct by a public servant, at any time when such person is in public office or employment or within 2 years thereafter. C. This subsection shall in no event extend the limitation period otherwise applicable by more than 5 years.
6.For purposes of this section:
A. A crime is committed when every element thereof has occurred, or if the crime consists of a continuing course of conduct, at the time when the course of conduct or the defendant’s complicity therein is terminated; and B. A prosecution is commenced whenever one of the following occurs: (1) A criminal complaint is filed; (2) An indictment is returned; or (3) Following waiver of an indictment, an information is filed.
7.The defense established by this section shall not bar a conviction of a crime included in the crime charged, notwithstanding that the period of limitation has expired for the included crime, if as to the crime charged the period of limitation has not expired or there is no such period, and there is evidence which would sustain a conviction for the crime charged.
Case Law
The information provided is solely for informational purposes and is not legal advice. To determine the Maine SOL in a particular case, contact a lawyer in the state.
Last Updated: September 12, 2023