I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2920 To amend the Child Abuse Protection and Treatment Act to incentivize States to eliminate civil and criminal statutes of limitations and revive time-barred civil claims for child abuse cases, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 26, 2023 Ms. WEXTON (for herself and Ms. SALAZAR) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce A BILL To amend the Child Abuse Protection and Treatment Act to incentivize States to eliminate civil and criminal stat- utes of limitations and revive time-barred civil claims for child abuse cases, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Statutes of Limitation 4 for Child Sexual Abuse Reform Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 May 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2920.IH H2920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2920 IH (1) Child sexual abuse is a pernicious crime 1 perpetrated through threats of violence, intimidation, 2 manipulation, and abuse of power. 3 (2) The prevalence of child sexual abuse is dif- 4 ficult to determine because it is often not reported; 5 however, data suggests that child sexual abuse is a 6 public health epidemic that affects 1 in 5 girls, and 7 1 in 13 boys in the Nation. 8 (3) The prevalence of child sex trafficking is 9 difficult to estimate, but the National Center for 10 Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) reports 11 receiving more than 19,000 reports of child sex traf- 12 ficking in 2022. 13 (4) It is estimated that there are approximately 14 7 million cases of child abuse and maltreatment re- 15 ported every year in the United States. 16 (5) Historically, nearly 90 percent of child vic- 17 tims never go to the authorities and the vast major- 18 ity of claims have expired before the victims were ca- 19 pable of getting to court. 20 (6) Due to the subversive nature of this crime, 21 the average age of disclosure of child sexual abuse 22 does not occur until a victim is over 52 years old. 23 (7) Because many State statutes of limitations 24 applicable to laws involving child sexual abuse fail to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 May 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2920.IH H2920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2920 IH give victims adequate time to come forward and re- 1 port their abuse, numerous victims are unable to 2 seek fair and just remediation against their abusers. 3 (8) Due to the especially heinous nature of 4 child sexual abuse, it is imperative that perpetrators 5 of this crime are punished, prevented from re- 6 offending, and victims have the opportunity to see 7 their abusers brought to justice. 8 (9) The negative effects over a survivor’s life- 9 time generate many costs that impact the Nation’s 10 health care, education, criminal justice, and welfare 11 systems, with the economic burden of child sexual 12 abuse estimated at nearly $2 trillion annually. 13 SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF STATE STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS 14 FOR CHILD ABUSE CASES. 15 (a) CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT 16 ACT.—Section 107(e)(1) of the Child Abuse Prevention 17 and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106c(e)(1)) is amended— 18 (1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 19 the end; 20 (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking the period 21 at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 22 (3) by adding at the end the following: 23 ‘‘(D) elimination of State civil and criminal 24 statutes of limitations laws for child sexual 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 May 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2920.IH H2920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2920 IH abuse, exploitation, and sex trafficking, and 1 adoption of laws reviving previously time-barred 2 civil claims for child sexual abuse, exploitation, 3 and sex trafficking.’’. 4 (b) SPECIAL RULE.—Section 111(b) of the Child 5 Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 6 5106g(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(3) CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE AND EXPLOI- 8 TATION.—For purposes of section 107(e)(1)(D), the 9 term ‘child sexual abuse and exploitation’ shall in- 10 clude an act or a failure to act on the part of a par- 11 ent, caretaker, or any other person.’’. 12 SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR ELIMINATING CERTAIN STATUTES OF 13 LIMITATION. 14 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary of Health and 15 Human Services may make grants to States that are eligi- 16 ble to receive an award under section 107 of the Child 17 Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106c) 18 achieve one or more of the following reforms: 19 (1) The elimination of all State civil statutes of 20 limitations for claims of, related to, or arising from, 21 child sexual abuse, exploitation, and sex trafficking, 22 against perpetrators, other individuals, and public 23 and private entities. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 May 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2920.IH H2920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2920 IH (2) The elimination of all State criminal stat- 1 utes of limitations for all felony and misdemeanor 2 sex crimes against children, including sexual abuse, 3 exploitation, and trafficking, and for inchoate of- 4 fenses related to such sex crimes, including attempt, 5 conspiracy, solicitation, and aiding and abetting. 6 (3) The revival of previously time-barred civil 7 claims for child sexual abuse, exploitation, and sex 8 trafficking against perpetrators, other individuals, 9 and public and private entities, which, at a min- 10 imum, permits previously time-barred claims a 2- 11 year period or until a victim reaches age 55, which- 12 ever is longer. 13 (b) ALLOCATION.—Of the funds made available to 14 carry out this section— 15 (1) 25 percent shall be for States that achieve 16 one of the reforms described in paragraphs (1) 17 through (3) of subsection (a); 18 (2) 35 percent shall be for States that achieve 19 two of such reforms; and 20 (3) 40 percent shall be for States that achieve 21 three of such reforms. 22 An award under this section shall be in addition to any 23 funds for which the State is otherwise eligible to receive 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 May 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2920.IH H2920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2920 IH under section 107 of the Child Abuse Prevention and 1 Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106c). 2 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 3 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 4 $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2031. 5 SEC. 5. TECHNICAL CORRECTION. 6 Section 1404A of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 7 (34 U.S.C. 20103), by striking ‘‘section 109’’ and insert 8 ‘‘section 107’’. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 May 05, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2920.IH H2920 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS