Texas Sexual Assault Statute of Limitations: Criminal and Civil

The Texas sexual assault statute of limitations sets different clocks for criminal charges and civil lawsuits, and the clock that applies depends on the victim’s age at the time of the offense, the specific charge, and, for civil cases, the year the assault occurred. In broad terms: there is no criminal deadline for most sexual offenses against children, ten years for felony sexual assault of an adult, until age 48 to file a civil suit for someone assaulted as a child, and five years to file a civil suit for someone assaulted as an adult.

Criminal Deadlines When the Victim Was a Child

Texas imposes no time limit on prosecuting most sexual offenses committed against a child. Charges can be filed at any point, no matter how many years have passed. This covers sexual assault of a child, aggravated sexual assault of a child, continuous sexual abuse of a young child or disabled individual, and indecency with a child, and it also covers anyone who failed to stop or report such an offense.¹

Criminal Deadlines When the Victim Was an Adult

For felony sexual assault of an adult, the default deadline is ten years from the date of the offense.¹ Two circumstances eliminate the deadline entirely:

Biological evidence was collected during the investigation and either has not been tested or was tested but did not match the victim or any readily identifiable person.
There is probable cause to believe the defendant committed the same or a similar sexual offense against five or more victims.

When either condition is met, prosecutors can file charges no matter how much time has passed.¹

Shorter Deadlines for Narrower Charges

A healthcare provider who performs an assisted reproduction procedure using donor material without the patient’s express consent commits a state jail felony.² The deadline for that offense is two years from the date the crime is discovered rather than the date it was committed.¹

Class A and Class B misdemeanor sexual offenses carry a two-year limitations period from the date of the offense.¹

Civil Deadlines for Adult Survivors

An adult survivor has five years from the date of the assault to file a civil lawsuit against the person who assaulted them.³ The Texas Legislature set that window specifically for sexual assault, longer than the two-year period that applies to most personal injury claims.⁴ Once five years pass, the defendant can ask the court to dismiss the case, and courts almost always grant that request regardless of how strong the evidence is.

Civil Deadlines for Survivors Assaulted as Children

A person who was sexually assaulted as a minor has 30 years after turning 18 to file a civil lawsuit, which means the deadline runs until age 48.⁵ This window covers claims arising from sexual assault of a child, aggravated sexual assault of a child, continuous sexual abuse, and indecency with a child.³

Which Version of the Civil Deadline Applies to Your Case

Texas has extended the civil statute of limitations for sexual assault more than once over the past decade, but those extensions do not apply retroactively. The deadline in effect when the assault occurred is the one that controls, not the deadline in effect when you decide to sue.³

If you were assaulted in a year when the civil deadline was shorter than today’s five years, that shorter deadline still governs your case. A survivor who assumes the current law applies can arrive at the courthouse and discover the window closed years earlier. If there is any doubt about which version applies to your situation, talk to a lawyer before more time passes.

Exceptions That Pause or Extend the Clock

The Discovery Rule

Texas courts recognize a discovery rule in civil cases, which can delay the start of the limitations period until the survivor discovers, or reasonably should have discovered, the injury and its connection to the assault. This can matter when the psychological effects of an assault only surface years later, often during therapy. Courts decide this case by case, and the extension is not automatic.

Mental Incapacity

If a survivor is of unsound mind at the time the cause of action first arises, that period of disability does not count against the limitations period. Two limits apply. The disability must exist at the moment the right to sue first arises, so a condition that develops after the clock has already started does not stop it. And one disability cannot be stacked on another to keep extending the deadline.⁶

Defendant Absent From Texas

In criminal cases, any time the accused spends outside Texas does not count toward the limitations period.¹ A suspect who spends three years out of state during a ten-year limitations window effectively gives the state thirteen years to file charges. The clock freezes during the absence and resumes on return.

When Federal or Military Rules Apply Instead

Some sexual assault cases fall under federal jurisdiction rather than Texas law, including assaults on federal property, cases tied to interstate trafficking, and offenses connected to the sexual exploitation of a child. For federal criminal cases involving the sexual or physical abuse of a child under 18, there is no limitations period during the lifetime of the victim or for ten years after the offense, whichever is longer.⁷ Federal civil law allows a person who was sexually exploited or abused as a minor to sue with no time limit at all.⁸

Military sexual assault is handled under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. For offenses committed on or after December 26, 2013, there is no statute of limitations. Offenses before that date were subject to a five-year limit.

1
State of Texas. Code of Criminal Procedure Chapter 12 – Limitation
2
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code 22.011 – Sexual Assault
3
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin. Statutes of Limitation in Sexual Assault Cases
4
State of Texas. Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 16 – Limitations
5
State of Texas. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 16.0045 – Limitations Period for Claims Arising From Certain Offenses
6
State of Texas. Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 16.001 – Effect of Disability
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 3283 – Offenses Against Children
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 2255 – Civil Remedy for Personal Injuries