Kentucky Statutes 413.249 – Action relating to childhood sexual abuse or childhood sexual assault
Current as of: 2024 | Check for updates
|
Other versions
(1) As used in this section:
(a) “Childhood sexual assault or abuse” means an act or series of acts against a person less than eighteen (18) years old and which meets the criteria defining a misdemeanor or felony in:
1. KRS Chapter 510;
2. KRS § 529.040 when the defendant advances or profits from the prostitution of a minor;
3. KRS § 529.100 when the offense involves commercial sexual activity;
4. KRS § 529.110 when the offense involves commercial sexual activity;
5. KRS § 530.020 or 530.064(1)(a);
6. KRS Chapter 531 involving a minor or depiction of a minor; or
7. KRS § 506.010 or 506.030 for attempt to commit or solicitation to commit any of the offenses described in subparagraphs 1. to 6. of this paragraph.
No prior criminal prosecution or conviction of the civil defendant for the act or series of acts shall be required to bring a civil action for redress of childhood sexual assault or abuse;
(b) “Entity” means a firm, partnership, company, corporation, trustee, association, or any private or public entity, including the Commonwealth, a city, county, urban-county, consolidated local government, unified local government, or charter county government, or any of their agencies, departments, or any KRS § 58.180 nonprofit nonstock corporation; and
(c) “Injury or illness” means either a physical or psychological injury or illness.
(2) A civil action for recovery of damages for injury or illness suffered as a result of childhood sexual assault or abuse shall be brought before whichever of the following periods last expires:
(a) Within ten (10) years of the commission of the act or the last of a series of acts by the same perpetrator;
(b) Within ten (10) years of the date the victim knew, or should have known, of the act;
(c) Within ten (10) years after the victim attains the age of eighteen (18)
years; or
(d) Within ten (10) years of the conviction of a civil defendant for an offense included in the definition of childhood sexual assault or abuse.
(3) The time periods set forth in subsection (2) of this section shall apply to a civil action for recovery of damages for injury or illness against;
(a) A person alleged to have committed the act of childhood sexual assault or abuse; or
(b) An entity that owed a duty of care to the plaintiff, where a wrongful or negligent act by an employee, officer, director, official, volunteer, representative, or agent of the entity was a legal cause of the childhood
sexual assault or abuse that resulted in the injury to the plaintiff.
(4) If a complaint is filed alleging that an act of childhood sexual assault or abuse occurred more than ten (10) years prior to the date that the action is commenced, the complaint shall be accompanied by a motion to seal the record and the complaint shall immediately be sealed by the clerk of the court. The complaint shall remain sealed until:
(a) The court rules upon the motion to seal;
(b) Any motion to dismiss under CR 12.02 is ruled upon, and if the complaint is dismissed, the complaint and any related papers or pleadings shall remain sealed unless opened by a higher court; or
(c) The defendant files an answer and a motion to seal the record upon grounds that a valid factual defense exists, to be raised in a motion for summary judgment pursuant to CR 56. The record shall remain sealed by the clerk until the court rules upon the defendant’s motion to close the record. If the court grants the motion to close, the record shall remain sealed until the defendant’s motion for summary judgment is granted. The complaint, motions, and other related papers or pleadings shall remain sealed unless opened by a higher court.
(5) A victim of childhood sexual assault or abuse shall not have a cause of action against a third party, unless the third party failed to act as a reasonable person or entity in complying with their duties to the victim. If a victim of childhood sexual assault or abuse has a cause of action under this section, the cause of action shall be commenced within the time period set forth in subsection (2) of this section.
(6) (a) Neither the husband-wife nor any professional-client/patient privilege, except the attorney-client and clergy-penitent privilege, shall be a ground for excluding evidence regarding childhood sexual assault or abuse or the cause thereof when an exception to the Kentucky Rules of Evidence is met, in any judicial proceeding. This subsection shall also apply in any criminal proceeding in District or Circuit Court regarding childhood sexual assault or abuse.
(b) As used in paragraph (a) of this subsection, the clergy-penitent privilege is limited to information received solely through confidential communications with a clergy member, privately or in a confessional setting, when in the course of the discipline or practice of the clergy member’s church, denomination, or organization, he or she is authorized or accustomed to hearing those communications, and under the discipline, tenets, customs, or practices of his or her church, denomination, or organization, has a duty to keep those communications secret.
(7) (a) As was its intention with the passage of 2017 Ky. Acts ch. 114, sec. 2, the
General Assembly hereby states that the amendments enacted in 2017
Ky. Acts ch. 114, sec. 2 shall be applied retroactively to actions accruing before its effective date of June 29, 2017. This section is a remedial statute which is to be given the most liberal interpretation to provide remedies for victims of childhood sexual assault or abuse.
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any claim for
childhood sexual assault or abuse that was barred as of March 23, 2021, because the applicable statute of limitations had expired is hereby revived, and the action may be brought if commenced within five (5) years of the date on which the applicable statute of limitations expired.
Effective:March 23, 2021
History: Amended 2021 Ky. Acts ch. 89, sec. 2, effective March 23, 2021. — Amended 2017 Ky. Acts ch. 114, sec. 2, effective June 29, 2017. — Amended
2013 Ky. Acts ch. 25, sec. 20, effective June 25, 2013. — Amended 2007 Ky. Acts ch. 19, sec. 9, effective June 26, 2007. — Created 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 577, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1998.
Legislative Research Commission Note (3/23/2021). 2021 Ky. Acts ch. 89, sec. 3 provides that the Act, which amended this statute and KRS § 500.050, “shall apply to causes of action accruing on or after March 23, 2021, and to causes of action accruing before March 23, 2021, if the applicable statute of limitations, as it existed prior to March 23, 2021, has not yet run before March 23, 2021.”
(a) “Childhood sexual assault or abuse” means an act or series of acts against a person less than eighteen (18) years old and which meets the criteria defining a misdemeanor or felony in:
Terms Used In Kentucky Statutes 413.249
- Action: includes all proceedings in any court of this state. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
- Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
- City: includes town. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
- Company: may extend and be applied to any corporation, company, person, partnership, joint stock company, or association. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Corporation: may extend and be applied to any corporation, company, partnership, joint stock company, or association. See Kentucky Statutes 446.010
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
- Statute of limitations: A law that sets the time within which parties must take action to enforce their rights.
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
1. KRS Chapter 510;
2. KRS § 529.040 when the defendant advances or profits from the prostitution of a minor;
3. KRS § 529.100 when the offense involves commercial sexual activity;
4. KRS § 529.110 when the offense involves commercial sexual activity;
5. KRS § 530.020 or 530.064(1)(a);
6. KRS Chapter 531 involving a minor or depiction of a minor; or
7. KRS § 506.010 or 506.030 for attempt to commit or solicitation to commit any of the offenses described in subparagraphs 1. to 6. of this paragraph.
No prior criminal prosecution or conviction of the civil defendant for the act or series of acts shall be required to bring a civil action for redress of childhood sexual assault or abuse;
(b) “Entity” means a firm, partnership, company, corporation, trustee, association, or any private or public entity, including the Commonwealth, a city, county, urban-county, consolidated local government, unified local government, or charter county government, or any of their agencies, departments, or any KRS § 58.180 nonprofit nonstock corporation; and
(c) “Injury or illness” means either a physical or psychological injury or illness.
(2) A civil action for recovery of damages for injury or illness suffered as a result of childhood sexual assault or abuse shall be brought before whichever of the following periods last expires:
(a) Within ten (10) years of the commission of the act or the last of a series of acts by the same perpetrator;
(b) Within ten (10) years of the date the victim knew, or should have known, of the act;
(c) Within ten (10) years after the victim attains the age of eighteen (18)
years; or
(d) Within ten (10) years of the conviction of a civil defendant for an offense included in the definition of childhood sexual assault or abuse.
(3) The time periods set forth in subsection (2) of this section shall apply to a civil action for recovery of damages for injury or illness against;
(a) A person alleged to have committed the act of childhood sexual assault or abuse; or
(b) An entity that owed a duty of care to the plaintiff, where a wrongful or negligent act by an employee, officer, director, official, volunteer, representative, or agent of the entity was a legal cause of the childhood
sexual assault or abuse that resulted in the injury to the plaintiff.
(4) If a complaint is filed alleging that an act of childhood sexual assault or abuse occurred more than ten (10) years prior to the date that the action is commenced, the complaint shall be accompanied by a motion to seal the record and the complaint shall immediately be sealed by the clerk of the court. The complaint shall remain sealed until:
(a) The court rules upon the motion to seal;
(b) Any motion to dismiss under CR 12.02 is ruled upon, and if the complaint is dismissed, the complaint and any related papers or pleadings shall remain sealed unless opened by a higher court; or
(c) The defendant files an answer and a motion to seal the record upon grounds that a valid factual defense exists, to be raised in a motion for summary judgment pursuant to CR 56. The record shall remain sealed by the clerk until the court rules upon the defendant’s motion to close the record. If the court grants the motion to close, the record shall remain sealed until the defendant’s motion for summary judgment is granted. The complaint, motions, and other related papers or pleadings shall remain sealed unless opened by a higher court.
(5) A victim of childhood sexual assault or abuse shall not have a cause of action against a third party, unless the third party failed to act as a reasonable person or entity in complying with their duties to the victim. If a victim of childhood sexual assault or abuse has a cause of action under this section, the cause of action shall be commenced within the time period set forth in subsection (2) of this section.
(6) (a) Neither the husband-wife nor any professional-client/patient privilege, except the attorney-client and clergy-penitent privilege, shall be a ground for excluding evidence regarding childhood sexual assault or abuse or the cause thereof when an exception to the Kentucky Rules of Evidence is met, in any judicial proceeding. This subsection shall also apply in any criminal proceeding in District or Circuit Court regarding childhood sexual assault or abuse.
(b) As used in paragraph (a) of this subsection, the clergy-penitent privilege is limited to information received solely through confidential communications with a clergy member, privately or in a confessional setting, when in the course of the discipline or practice of the clergy member’s church, denomination, or organization, he or she is authorized or accustomed to hearing those communications, and under the discipline, tenets, customs, or practices of his or her church, denomination, or organization, has a duty to keep those communications secret.
(7) (a) As was its intention with the passage of 2017 Ky. Acts ch. 114, sec. 2, the
General Assembly hereby states that the amendments enacted in 2017
Ky. Acts ch. 114, sec. 2 shall be applied retroactively to actions accruing before its effective date of June 29, 2017. This section is a remedial statute which is to be given the most liberal interpretation to provide remedies for victims of childhood sexual assault or abuse.
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, any claim for
childhood sexual assault or abuse that was barred as of March 23, 2021, because the applicable statute of limitations had expired is hereby revived, and the action may be brought if commenced within five (5) years of the date on which the applicable statute of limitations expired.
Effective:March 23, 2021
History: Amended 2021 Ky. Acts ch. 89, sec. 2, effective March 23, 2021. — Amended 2017 Ky. Acts ch. 114, sec. 2, effective June 29, 2017. — Amended
2013 Ky. Acts ch. 25, sec. 20, effective June 25, 2013. — Amended 2007 Ky. Acts ch. 19, sec. 9, effective June 26, 2007. — Created 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 577, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1998.
Legislative Research Commission Note (3/23/2021). 2021 Ky. Acts ch. 89, sec. 3 provides that the Act, which amended this statute and KRS § 500.050, “shall apply to causes of action accruing on or after March 23, 2021, and to causes of action accruing before March 23, 2021, if the applicable statute of limitations, as it existed prior to March 23, 2021, has not yet run before March 23, 2021.”