What is a Statute of Limitations?
The statute of limitations is the amount of time in which the State may prosecute someone accused of a crime. In general, it would be unfair and unjust to allow the State to prosecute someone for an offense that allegedly happened at any time in the person’s life, so the legislature has assigned specific timetables to each crime based on the severity and nature of evidence related to that crime.
For example, the statute of limitations for all misdemeanor offenses is two years. That means that if someone accuses their spouse of assault in August of 2020 and the State has not initiated prosecution by September of 2022, they can never bring charges for that alleged offense.
However, the statute of limitations can be tolled by initiating prosecution. The statute period starts on the date of alleged offense, and once the state files the misdemeanor case or indicts the felony case, the statute is paused during the court process.
While misdemeanors have a statute of limitations of two years, limitations on felony crimes vary depending on the crime from three years to no limitation at all.
The Statute of Limitations on Sex Crimes
Sex crimes encompass a wide range of offenses. From something as minor as sexting all the way to aggravated sexual assault of a child, the statute of limitations are varied; for several reasons beyond the severity of the crime. Obviously it is not uncommon for a victim of sexual assault to delay reporting the offense due to emotional trauma associated with the event. Furthermore, child victims might not even know what is happening to them is a crime until they are much much older. Finally, even when an offense is reported quickly, biological evidence such as DNA testing can take months or even years to be processed and completed at the lab depending on how backed up they are.
Sex Crimes with No Statute of Limitations
- Sexual Assault of a Child
- Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child
- Some very rare and specific instances of Sexual Assault
Statute of Limitations of 10 Years
- Sexual Assault
- If the victim was under 17 at the time of the offense, 20 years from the date the victim turns 18 for Sexual Performance of a Child
The Code of Criminal Procedure outlines the exact statute of limitation for each criminal offense in Article 12.01.
At The Fox Firm, we understand that it’s devastating to face criminal charges. Contact us to schedule a consultation with a Plano sex crime attorney to discuss your defense options.