Here Is What Is Happening In South Carolina
Civil Statute of Limitations
Discovery Rule: Yes (+ 3 Years )
Limitations Period: Age 21 + 6 Years
Tolling:  Yes
  • 6 Years After Victim Reaches Age 21 or 3 Years from Discovery of Injury and Causal Relationship Between Abuse and Injury : S.C. Code Ann. §15-3-555(A)(2008).
     
  • Discovery Rule : A Court may suspend the statute of limitations during the period in which a victim psychologically represses his or her memory of sexual abuse. The Supreme Court of South Carolina has stated that the statute of limitations begins to run on the date a reasonable person in the victim’s circumstances was no longer repressing memories of abuse and the resurfacing memories would have put a reasonable person on sufficient notice, i.e. an objective standard. The victim may attempt to recover damages when those memories are triggered and remembered. Moriarty v. Garden Sanctuary Church of God, 341 S.C. 320, 534 S.E.2d 672 (S.C. 2000).
     
  • No Retroactivity : Cannot be used to revive claims that expired prior to amendment effective August 31, 2001. A new statute cannot be used to revive a claim that had expired prior to its passage pursuant to the due process clause of the South Carolina constitution. Doe v. Crooks, 364 S.C. 349 (S.C. 2005). Prior to 2001, the limitations period was provided by §§ 15-3-530(5) and 15-3-535.
Criminal Statute of Limitations
Limitations Period: None
Tolling: N/A
Exceptions N/A
  • No Statute of Limitations for Any Criminal Prosecution in South Carolina : Sexual conduct with a minor is considered a first-degree felony if offender engages in sexual battery with a victim who is under 11 or who is under 16, and offender has previously been convicted of or pled guilty to a sexual offense. It is considered a second-degree felony if offender engages in sexual battery with a victim who is at least 11 but under 14 or who is at least 14 but under 16, and offender is in a position of familial, custodial, or official authority to coerce victim to submit. However, a person may not be convicted of a second-degree felony if he is 18 or younger when he engages in consensual sexual conduct with another person who is at least 14. S.C. Code Ann. § 16-3-655 (2008). Incest is also a crime under S.C. Code Ann. § 16-15-20.
News Coverage
Date Title Author Source PDF
11/17/2011 The Universal Need for the Mandatory Reporting of Child Sexual Abuse Marci
Hamilton		 Justia
State Outreach Organizations
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests: South Carolina

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Statute of Limitations: Footer
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