South Carolina H 5203: Child sex abuse, statute of limitations

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 5203 Text of Previous Version (Feb. 18, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 5203

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS 
BY AMENDING SECTION 15-3-555, RELATING TO the STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR ACTIONs 
BASED ON SEXUAL ABUSE OR INCEST, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT, FOR PURPOSES OF CLAIMS 
AGAINST A BANKRUPTCY ESTATE, AN ACTION BROUGHT BY A VICTIM OF CHILDHOOD SEXUAL 
ABUSE MAY BE BROUGHT AT ANY TIME AFTER THE CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUES.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 15-3-555 of the S.C. 
Code is amended to read:

 Section 
15-3-555. (A) 
An Except as provided in subsection (C), an 
action to recover damages for injury to a person arising out of an act of 
sexual abuse or incest must be commenced within six years after the person 
becomes twenty-one years of age or within three years from the time of 
discovery by the person of the injury and the causal relationship between the 
injury and the sexual abuse or incest, whichever occurs later.

 (B) Parental immunity is not a defense 
against claims based on sexual abuse or incest that occurred before, on, or 
after this section's effective date.

 (C)(1) For purposes of making a claim 
against a bankruptcy estate, an action for sexual abuse brought by a victim of 
childhood sexual abuse, or an action brought by a victim of childhood sexual 
abuse asserting any claim resulting from childhood sexual abuse, may be brought 
at any time after the cause of action accrues.

 (2) For purposes of this subsection, 
"childhood sexual abuse" means any conduct that constitutes a violation of any 
of the offenses described in Articles 7 and 8, Chapter 3, Title 16, if the 
victim of the violation is at the time of the violation a minor under eighteen 
years of age or a child with a developmental disability or physical impairment 
under twenty-one years of age. The court need not find that any person has been 
convicted of or pleaded guilty to an offense described in Articles 7 and 8, 
Chapter 3, Title 16, in order for the conduct that is the violation 
constituting the offense to be childhood sexual abuse for purposes of this 
section.

SECTION 
2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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This web page was last updated on February 18, 2026 at 01:08 PM