119-hr5560

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5560 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 5560

 To amend the Child Abuse Prevention 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

 September 23, 2025

Mr. Subramanyam (for himself and Ms. Salazar) introduced the following 
 bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To amend the Child Abuse Prevention 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.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Statutes of Limitation for Child 
Sexual Abuse Reform Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds the following:

    (1) Child sexual abuse is a pernicious crime perpetrated 
 through threats of violence, intimidation, manipulation, and 
 abuse of power.

    (2) Child sexual abuse is a public health epidemic that 
 affects an estimated 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 20 boys in the 
 United States.

    (3) The prevalence of child sex trafficking is difficult to 
 estimate, but the National Center for Missing and Exploited 
 Children

    (NCMEC) reports receiving more than 19,000 reports of 
 child sex trafficking in 2022.

    (4) Historically, nearly 90 percent of child victims never 
 go to the authorities and the vast majority of claims have 
 expired before the victims were capable of getting to court.

    (5) Due to the subversive nature of this crime, the average 
 age of disclosure of child sexual abuse does not occur until a 
 victim is over 52 years old.

    (6) Because many State statutes of limitations applicable 
 to laws involving child sexual abuse fail to give victims 
 adequate time to come forward and report their abuse, numerous 
 victims are unable to seek fair and just remediation against 
 their abusers.

    (7) Due to the especially heinous nature of child sexual 
 abuse, it is imperative that perpetrators of this crime are 
 punished, prevented from reoffending, and victims have the 
 opportunity to see their abusers brought to justice.

SEC. 3. ELIMINATION OF STATE STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS FOR CHILD ABUSE 
 CASES.

    (a) Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act.--

Section 107

    (e)

    (1) of 
the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106c

    (e)

    (1) ) is 
amended--

    (1) in subparagraph
        (B) , by striking ``and'' at the end;

    (2) in subparagraph
            (C) , by striking the period at the end 
 and inserting ``; and''; and

    (3) by adding at the end the following:
 ``
            (D) elimination of State civil and criminal 
 statutes of limitations laws for child sexual abuse, 
 exploitation, and sex trafficking, and adoption of laws 
 reviving previously time-barred civil claims for child 
 sexual abuse, exploitation, and sex trafficking.''.

    (b) Special Rule.--

Section 111

    (b) of the Child Abuse Prevention and 
Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106g

    (b) ) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:
 ``

    (3) Child sexual abuse and exploitation.--For purposes of 
 

section 107

    (e)

    (1)
            (D) , the term `child sexual abuse and 
 exploitation' shall include an act or a failure to act on the 
 part of a parent, caretaker, or any other person.''.

SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR ELIMINATING CERTAIN STATUTES OF LIMITATION.

    (a) Authorization.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services may 
make grants to States that are eligible to receive an award under 

section 107 of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 
5106c) to achieve one or more of the following reforms:

    (1) The elimination of all State civil statutes of 
 limitations for claims of, related to, or arising from, child 
 sexual abuse, exploitation, and sex trafficking, against 
 perpetrators, other individuals, and public and private 
 entities.

    (2) The elimination of all State criminal statutes of 
 limitations for all felony and misdemeanor sex crimes against 
 children, including sexual abuse, exploitation, and 
 trafficking, and for inchoate offenses related to such sex 
 crimes, including attempt, conspiracy, solicitation, and aiding 
 and abetting.

    (3) The revival of previously time-barred civil claims for 
 child sexual abuse, exploitation, and sex trafficking against 
 perpetrators, other individuals, and public and private 
 entities, which, at a minimum, permits previously time-barred 
 claims a 2-year period or until a victim reaches age 55, 
 whichever is longer.

    (b) Allocation.--Of the funds made available to carry out this 
section--

    (1) 25 percent shall be for States that achieve one of the 
 reforms described in paragraphs

    (1) through

    (3) of subsection

    (a) ;

    (2) 35 percent shall be for States that achieve two of such 
 reforms; and

    (3) 40 percent shall be for States that achieve three of 
 such reforms.
An award under this section shall be in addition to any funds for which 
the State is otherwise eligible to receive under 

section 107 of the 
Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. 5106c).
            (c) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $20,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2026 through 2033.

SEC. 5. TECHNICAL CORRECTION.

 

Section 1404A of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (34 U.S.C. 
20103), by striking ``

section 109'' and insert ``

section 107''.
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