Track

Status

Governing provision

No limitation — § 205(e): “Notwithstanding the period prescribed by subsection (b) of this section, a prosecution for any crime that is delineated in § 787 of this title and in which the victim is a minor, subpart D of subchapter II of Chapter 5 of this title, or is otherwise defined as a ‘sexual offense’ by § 761 of this title except § 763, § 764 or § 765 of this title, or any attempt to commit said crimes, may be commenced at any time.” 

What that reaches — subpart D of subchapter II of Chapter 5 of Title 11 is headed “Sexual Offenses” and contains §§ 761–780 together with the trafficking, child-exploitation and related provisions. Section 787 is the trafficking provision, caught here where the victim is a minor. The three excepted sections are § 763 (sexual harassment, unclassified misdemeanor), § 764 (indecent exposure in the second degree, unclassified misdemeanor) and § 765 (indecent exposure in the first degree, class A misdemeanor). 

A limit on proof — § 205(e): “No prosecution under this subsection shall be based upon the memory of the victim that has been recovered through psychotherapy unless there is some evidence of the corpus delicti independent of such repressed memory.” 

Retroactive — § 205(e): “This subsection applies to all causes of action arising before, on or after July 15, 1992, and to the extent consistent with this subsection, it shall revive causes of action that would otherwise be barred by this section.” 

What the general periods would otherwise be — § 205(a): murder or any class A felony, at any time. § 205(b): any other felony, five years; class A misdemeanor, three years; class B or C or unclassified misdemeanor or violation, two years. § 205(i): where based upon forensic DNA testing, ten years. § 205(j): where subsection (e) is invoked to avoid the subsection (b) period, the State must allege and prove its applicability as an element of the offense. 

Why the status is “No Contact Deadline”: every hands-on childhood sexual offense — rape, unlawful sexual contact, sexual exploitation, trafficking of a minor — falls within subpart D or § 787 and may be prosecuted at any time. The only sexual offenses left outside § 205(e) are non-contact ones: sexual harassment (§ 763), indecent exposure in the second degree (§ 764) and indecent exposure in the first degree (§ 765). Those keep the general periods in § 205(b) — two years for the unclassified misdemeanors, three for the class A misdemeanor.

11 Del. C. § 205 — Delaware Code Online (official State of Delaware text) 

11 Del. C. ch. 5, subch. II (sexual offenses, incl. §§ 761, 763–765) — Delaware Code Online

No limitation — § 8145(a): “A cause of action based upon the sexual abuse of a minor by an adult may be filed in the Superior Court of this State at any time following the commission of the act or acts that constituted the sexual abuse. A civil cause of action for sexual abuse of a minor shall be based upon sexual acts that would constitute a criminal offense under the Delaware Code.” 

Health-care providers, separately — 18 Del. C. § 6856(3)a: “Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, a cause of action based on the sexual abuse of a child patient by a health-care provider may be brought at any time following the commission of the act or acts that constituted the sexual abuse.” That sits inside the medical-negligence limitations section, which otherwise imposes a two-year period. 

Costs risk — § 8145(c) and § 6856(3)c: a person against whom such a suit is filed may recover attorneys’ fees where the Court determines that a false accusation was made with no basis in fact and with malicious intent. A verdict for the accused is not by itself a basis for that finding; the Court must make an independent finding of improper motive. 

Delaware is one of the small number of jurisdictions where the civil deadline is gone outright, on the face of the statute, with no date threshold and no age cap. The date questions in Delaware are all about revival — see section 3.

10 Del. C. § 8145 — Delaware Code Online (official State of Delaware text) 

18 Del. C. § 6856 — Delaware Code Online (official State of Delaware text)

General window — § 8145(b): “For a period of 2 years following July 9, 2007, victims of child sexual abuse that occurred in this State who have been barred from filing suit against their abusers by virtue of the expiration of the former civil statute of limitations, shall be permitted to file those claims in the Superior Court of this State.” Where the abuser was employed by an institution or other legal entity that owed a duty of care to the victim, or the accused and the minor were engaged in an activity over which the entity had some responsibility or control, damages against that entity are awarded “only if there is a finding of gross negligence on the part of the legal entity”. 

Health-care provider window — § 6856(3)b: “Through July 13, 2012,” a child patient abused by a health-care provider, whose claim was barred by the expiration of the former civil limitation, was permitted to file in the Superior Court — where the abuse was discovered and reported to a person or entity specified in § 1731A of Title 24, or was unknown and could not with reasonable diligence have been discovered by the patient or a parent, guardian or next friend. The same gross-negligence standard applies to the employing entity. 

The gross-negligence standard is the part worth carrying forward. In both Delaware windows a survivor could reach the individual abuser on ordinary principles, but could only reach the institution behind the abuser by proving gross negligence — a materially higher bar than the negligence standard that applies in most revival statutes.

10 Del. C. § 8145 — Delaware Code Online (official State of Delaware text) 

18 Del. C. § 6856 — Delaware Code Online (official State of Delaware text)