Legal Question in Criminal Law in New Jersey

Re: Sex Crimes, statute of limitations

A prosecution for a sex crime must be commenced within five years of the victim's attaining 18 ears of age or within two years of the discovery of the offense by the victim. The discovery rule is an allowance for victim's of tender age who reacts to the trauma of the sexual abuse by suppressing memory of same and remembers same much later as consequence of some stimulus.

When you ask about civil law I assume you are talking about filing a lawsuit for money damages. The applicable statute of limitations is two years after the victim's 18th birthday or, similarly, after the victim "discovers" the sexual

impropriety.