Texas Sexual Abuse Statute of Limitations: Thirty Years and Five Years Under CPRC § 16.0045
Reviewed and current as of August 31, 2026. California law can change; verify against the current statute before relying on any date.
A person must bring suit for personal injury not later than 30 years after the day the cause of action accrues where the injury arises from offences including sexual assault of a child, aggravated sexual assault of a child, continuous sexual abuse, specified trafficking offences, compelling prostitution of a child or disabled individual, and indecency with a child.
For other sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, trafficking, and compelling prostitution offences, the period is five years.
Source: Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 16.0045 (as of August 31, 2026).
Two tiers, keyed to the offence
Section 16.0045 sets the period by reference to the criminal offence the conduct would constitute, not by the plaintiff's age at filing. Subsection (a) supplies 30 years for the child-focused and most serious trafficking offences; subsection (b) supplies five years for the remaining enumerated sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, trafficking, and compelling prostitution offences.
Correctly identifying the predicate offence is therefore the whole analysis: the difference between the two tiers is twenty-five years.
| Tier | Period | Covers |
|---|---|---|
| § 16.0045(a) | 30 years | Sexual assault and aggravated sexual assault of a child, continuous sexual abuse, specified trafficking, compelling prostitution of a child or disabled individual, indecency with a child |
| § 16.0045(b) | 5 years | Other sexual assault, aggravated sexual assault, trafficking of persons, compelling prostitution |
Unknown defendants
The statute contains tolling provisions addressing the situation where the defendant's identity is unknown, permitting a plaintiff to file using a John or Jane Doe designation. This is a practical accommodation absent from most limitations statutes and can preserve a claim that would otherwise be lost while the perpetrator is identified.
Section 16.003's general two-year period expressly does not apply where section 16.0045 governs, so the longer periods here are not in tension with the general personal injury rule.
Key exceptions and tolling
- The predicate offence controls.Which tier applies turns on the enumerated criminal offence the conduct would constitute, not on the plaintiff's age at the time of filing.
- Doe filings.The statute provides for filing against a John or Jane Doe defendant where the perpetrator's identity is unknown, with associated tolling.
- Carve-out from the general rule.Section 16.003's two-year period applies except as provided by section 16.0045, so the general rule does not shorten these claims.
- Institutional defendants.Negligence claims against schools, churches, or employers for hiring, supervision, or retention are analyzed separately and may not share section 16.0045's period.
- California differs sharply.California imposes no time limit at all for childhood sexual assault occurring on or after January 1, 2024 under Code of Civil Procedure section 340.1, where Texas caps the equivalent claim at 30 years.
Frequently asked
How long do you have to file a sexual abuse lawsuit in Texas?
Thirty years from accrual for claims arising from child sexual abuse and certain trafficking offences under Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 16.0045(a), and five years for other enumerated sexual assault and trafficking offences under subsection (b). This is general information, not legal advice.
Is the Texas deadline the same as California's for childhood sexual abuse?
No, and the difference is large. California imposes no time limit for childhood sexual assault occurring on or after January 1, 2024 under Code of Civil Procedure section 340.1. Texas caps the equivalent claim at 30 years under section 16.0045(a).
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Not legal advice. This page is general information for licensed attorneys and is not a substitute for independent legal research or professional judgment. It does not address the facts of any specific matter. Statutes, case law, and court rules change; tolling, the discovery rule, equitable estoppel, and claims involving minors, government entities, or out-of-state defendants can all change the applicable deadline. Confirm every date against the current text of Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 16.0045 and controlling case law. Using this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Statutory citations current as of August 31, 2026.