Q: Hi If I was sexually abused as a child age 8 for a prolonged time can my perpetrator be charged? I’m now 43 years old
A:
Probably not, because of the statute of limitations. Moder law allows child abusers to be charged at ANY time, but it wasn't always that way. And once a defendant becomes protected by limitations, later changes to the law can't remove that protection.
Until 2007 the limitation period for crimes like Indecency With a Child and also Continuous Sexual Abuse was only 10 years from the child's 18th birthday. Given that you are 43 today in 2021, that means you were born in 1977 or '78 so your 18th birthday would have been in 1995 or '96... and that means the perpetrator became protected by limitations in either 2005 or '06. They changed the law in '07 but it appears that this defendant is just barely outside the reach of the law.
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