MISSISSIPPI

CHILD SEX ABUSE SOLs

CURRENT CIVIL SOL

Summary: The civil SOL for CSA, trafficking, and CSAM claims is age 24 against all defendants, with a discovery rule.

CIVIL SOL SNAPSHOT

AGE CAP

CSA: AGE 24

TRAFFICKING: AGE 24

CSAM: AGE 24

REVIVAL LAW

NONE

DISCOVERY TOLLING

3 YEARS

Civil SOL History

Age Cap

1990

Since 1990, the SOL for CSA, trafficking, and CSAM has been age 24 (age of majority, 21, plus 3 years).[i] This is one of the most restrictive civil SOLs in the country.

 

Revival Law

N/A

No window or other SOL revival law.

 

Discovery

Common Law

No common law discovery rule for CSA.

Statutory

Mississippi first applied its statutory discovery rule for latent injury or disease to claims for CSA in 2021 when the Supreme Court ruled in a narrow case where the victim failed to recall the abuse until three decades later.[ii]  The court ruled the discovery rule can apply where a victim did not know or should not have reasonably known about the injury.[iii]  The discovery rule for latent injuries is applicable to claims against all defendants.[iv]

 

[i] Miss. Code Ann. §§ 15-1-49(1) (discovery tolling), 15-1-59 (minority tolling).

[ii] McGowen, supra note 528, at 1089–90 (finding that where a victim failed to remember child sex abuse until more than three decades after it occurred did not require a “repressed memory” analysis because it constituted a “latent injury” under the statute, thus allowing the application of the statutory discovery rule); Doe v. Roman Catholic Diocese of Jackson, 947 So. 2d 983, 986 (Miss. Ct. App. 2006) (refusing to apply Mississippi’s statutory discovery rule to child sex abuse case where victim remembered the abusive events but “did not psychologically comprehend” that the acts were abusive and caused her injury); Jeffery R. Anderson et al., When Clergy Fail Their Flock: Litigating the Clergy Sexual Abuse Case, 91 Am. Jur. Trials 151, § 22.2 (2021). See Miss. Code Ann. § 15-1-49(2) (2021).

[iii] McGowen, supra note 528, at 1090 (explaining the inquiry for latent injuries).

[iv] Miss. Code Ann. § 15-1-49(2) (2021). See McGowen, supra note 528, at 1090; Punzo v. Jackson County, 861 So.2d 340, 346 (Miss. 2003) (applying the discovery rule where plaintiff’s latent injury was caused by Jackson County).

CURRENT MISSISSIPPI CIVIL LAW

Miss. Code Ann. § 15-1-49 - Actions without prescribed period of limitation; actions involving latent injury or disease

(1) All actions for which no other period of limitation is prescribed shall be commenced within three (3) years next after the cause of such action accrued, and not after.

(2) In actions for which no other period of limitation is prescribed and which involve latent injury or disease, the cause of action does not accrue until the plaintiff has discovered, or by reasonable diligence should have discovered, the injury.

(3) The provisions of subsection (2) of this section shall apply to all pending and subsequently filed actions.

Miss. Code Ann. § 15-1-59 - Person under disability of infancy or unsoundness of mind

If any person entitled to bring any of the personal actions mentioned shall, at the time at which the cause of action accrued, be under the disability of infancy or unsoundness of mind, he may bring the actions within the times in this chapter respectively limited, after his disability shall be removed as provided by law. However, the saving in favor of persons under disability of unsoundness of mind shall never extend longer than twenty-one (21) years.

Case law

CURRENT CRIMINAL SOL

Summary:

CSA: In Mississippi, there is no SOL for many CSA felonies and an SOL of 5 years for sexual battery or fondling of a vulnerable person. For the remaining felonies and misdemeanors, the SOL is 2 years after the offense.

Trafficking: There is no SOL for trafficking.

CSAM: There is no SOL for CSAM offenses.

CRIMINAL SOL SNAPSHOT

OTHER FELNOIES

CSA

NO SOL

TRAFFICKING

NO SOL

CSAM

NO SOL

Criminal SOL History

Age Cap
2002 No criminal SOL for rape.[i] Many other CSA felonies, including CSAM offenses,[ii] had an SOL of age 21. The remaining felonies and misdemeanors were subject to an SOL of 2 years from the offense. [iii]
2003 Eliminated SOL for many CSA felonies, including CSAM violations.[iv]
2004 Eliminated SOL for sexual battery of 16- and 17-year-olds by a person in a position of trust.[v]
2006 Added the crime of human trafficking,[vi] which fell under the two-year civil SOL.
2012 Extended SOL for felony sexual battery or fondling of a vulnerable person to 5 years from the offense.[vii]
2013 Eliminated SOL for promoting prostitution and sex trafficking of a child.[viii]
2023 Extended the SOL for conspiracy to commit any crime, including CSA, trafficking, and CSAM, to the SOL for the underlying crime.[ix]

 

[i] See Section 2437, Code of 1942.  See also Blakeney v. State, 87 So. 2d 472, 473 (Miss. 1956) (citing Mississippi Code stating that a person should not be prosecuted criminally for rape unless the prosecution for such offense be commenced within two years after the commission thereof).

[ii] Miss. Code Ann. § 97-5-33 (1995) (CSAM).

[iii] Id. at § 99-1-5 (2002) (SOL).

[iv] Id. (2003) (SOL).

[v] Id. (2004) (SOL).

[vi] Id. at § 97-3-54.1 (2006) (human trafficking).

[vii] Id. at § 99-1-5 (2012) (SOL).

[viii] Id. (2013) (SOL).

[ix] Id. (2023) (SOL); 2023 Miss. Laws S.B. 2337; 2023 Miss. Laws H.B. 405.

CURRENT MISSISSIPPI CRIMINAL LAW

Miss. Code Ann. § 99-1-5 - Limitations; exceptions

(1)(a) The passage of time shall never bar prosecution against any person for the offenses of murder, manslaughter, aggravated assault, aggravated domestic violence, kidnapping, arson, burglary, forgery, counterfeiting, robbery, larceny, rape, embezzlement, obtaining money or property under false pretenses or by fraud, felonious abuse or battery of a child as described in Section 97-5-39, touching or handling a child for lustful purposes as described in Section 97-5-23, sexual battery of a child as described in Section 97-3-95(1)(c), (d) or (2), exploitation of children as described in Section 97-5-33, promoting prostitution under Section 97-29-51(2) when the person involved is a minor, or any human trafficking offense as described in Section 97-3-54.1(1)(a), (1)(b) or (1)(c), Section 97-3-54.2, or Section 97-3-54.3.
(b) A person shall not be prosecuted for felonious assistance-program fraud, as described in Section 97-19-71, or for felonious abuse of vulnerable persons, as described in Sections 43-47-18 and 43-47-19, unless the prosecution for the offense is commenced within five (5) years next after the commission thereof.
(c) A person shall not be prosecuted for larceny of timber as described in Section 97-17-59, unless the prosecution for the offense is commenced within six (6) years next after the commission thereof.
(d) The time limitation on prosecution for conspiracy, as described in Section 97-1-1, shall be the same as for the underlying offense for which the defendant is accused of conspiring to commit.
(e) A person shall not be prosecuted for bribery as defined in Section 97-11-11, unless the prosecution for the offense is commenced within five (5) years after the commission thereof.

(2) A person shall not be prosecuted for any other offense not listed in this section unless the prosecution for the offense is commenced within two (2) years next after the commission thereof.

(3) Nothing contained in this section shall bar any prosecution against any person who shall abscond or flee from justice, or shall absent himself from this state or out of the jurisdiction of the court, or so conduct himself that he cannot be found by the officers of the law, or that process cannot be served upon him.

Case Law

The information provided is solely for informational purposes and is not legal advice. To determine the Mississippi SOL in a particular case, contact a lawyer in the state.

Last Updated: September 12, 2023