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Summary | Text | Cases and Commentary | Resources
Summary:
Georgia's special statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse provides that victims may bring civil actions within 5 years of reaching their age of majority. Ga. Code Ann. §9-3-33.1 (2007)
Disability Tolling. Georgia's general tolling statute, Ga. Code Ann. § 9-3-91, provides that a disability tolls the applicable limitation during the period of the disability.
Text of Statute:
§ 9-3-33.1. Childhood sexual abuse
(a) As used in this Code section, the term "childhood sexual abuse" means any act committed by the defendant against the plaintiff which act occurred when the plaintiff was under the age of 18 years and which act would have been proscribed by Code Section 16-6-1, relating to rape; Code Section 16-6-2, relating to sodomy and aggravated sodomy; Code Section 16-6-3, relating to statutory rape; Code Section 16-6-4, relating to child molestation and aggravated child molestation; Code Section 16-6-5, relating to enticing a child for indecent purposes; Code Section 16-6-12, relating to pandering; Code Section 16-6-14, relating to pandering by compulsion; Code Section 16-6-15, relating to solicitation of sodomy; Code Section 16-6-22, relating to incest; Code Section 16-6-22.1, relating to sexual battery; or Code Section 16-6-22.2, relating to aggravated sexual battery, or any prior laws of this state of similar effect which were in effect at the time the act was committed.
(b) Any civil action for recovery of damages suffered as a result of childhood sexual abuse shall be commenced within five years of the date the plaintiff attains the age of majority.
Commentary and Cases:
In M.H.D. v. Westminster Schools,172 F.3d 797 (11th Cir. 1999), the Federal courts interpreted the Georgia statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse within the context of a federal claim under Title IX of the Education Act. In so doing, the court explained that the Georgia statute was made explicitly non-retroactive by the legislature.
This statute, however, was not adopted until 1992; the legislation which enacted it states: "No action for childhood sexual abuse which, prior to July 1, 1992, has been barred by the provisions of Title 9 [regarding statutes of limitations], shall be revived by this Act."
1992 Ga. Laws 2473, § 2.
In addition, the court explained that the Georgia legislature did not intend that the common law discovery rule apply to cases permitted by the statute:
Although the original version of this statute adopted the discovery rule to accomplish this goal, some members of the Georgia legislature opposed adopting the rule because they believed the uncertainty of such a long limitations period was unfair to potential defendants. As a compromise, the legislature replaced the discovery rule with the five-year limitations period that section 9-3-33.1 now features. See Jami Philpott, Legislative Review, 9 Ga. St. U.L.Rev. 154, 155-57 (1992). Thus, the Georgia legislature clearly did not intend the discovery rule to apply to claims governed by section 9-3-33.1.
Regarding disability tolling, the Georgia court ruled that "the test for is whether the individual, being of unsound mind, could not manage the ordinary affairs of his life." Walker v. Brannan, 243 Ga. App. 235; 533 S.E.2d 129 (2000) (automobile accident case).
Resources:
- Georgia Statutes search page.
- George Network to End Sexual Assault
- Georgia links and resources from Women's Law.
Revised 09/04/2007. Copyright Susan K. Smith
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