South Carolina Sexual Assault Attorney Guide

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South Carolina’s civil deadline for sexual abuse is the later of two dates: six years after the survivor turns 21, or three years after the survivor discovers both the injury and its connection to the abuse. The first branch closes on the 27th birthday; the second has no age limit. South Carolina has never opened a revival window. This guide sets out those rules from the South Carolina Code, the separate three-year rule for assault and battery, how the criminal side works, and five firms that represent survivors in South Carolina.

Anyone facing immediate danger should call 911. The South Carolina Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault has a toll-free line at 800-260-9293, and the National Sexual Assault Hotline is 1-800-656-4673.

Statutory text below was read on the South Carolina Legislature’s official code pages in October 2026. It is offered as general information and does not evaluate a particular claim.

Sexual Abuse Claims: Age 27 or Three Years From Discovery

S.C. Code § 15-3-555(A) reads: “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.”

Three points follow from the text:

  • The age branch runs six years from the 21st birthday, which is the 27th birthday.
  • The discovery branch runs three years from discovery of two things together: the injury and its causal relationship to the abuse. Knowing that the abuse happened is not the trigger; connecting a later injury to it is.
  • Whichever occurs later controls, so a survivor past 27 can still be within time under the discovery branch.

Subsection (B) adds: “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.” A parent who abused a child cannot rely on family immunity to defeat the claim.

CHILD USA reports that the section applies equally to the perpetrator and to institutions, and that no revival provision exists anywhere in Chapter 3 of Title 15.

Assault and Battery: Three Years From When the Claim Was Known

For an assault claim outside § 15-3-555, S.C. Code § 15-3-530(5) sets three years for “an action for assault, battery, or any injury to the person or rights of another, not arising on contract and not enumerated by law.” Under § 15-3-535, such an action “must be commenced within three years after the person knew or by the exercise of reasonable diligence should have known that he had a cause of action.”

Section 15-3-555 is phrased in terms of “an act of sexual abuse or incest” without limiting itself to children, so for an adult survivor a lawyer may compare both sections. The section that produces the later date is not automatically the one that governs; which one applies turns on the facts of the claim.

Institutions and Public Bodies

CHILD USA notes that § 15-3-555 draws no distinction between the abuser and an institution. Whether a school, church, employer, or youth organization is liable depends on South Carolina negligence law and on what it knew and did. A claim against a public school district or other governmental entity can bring in South Carolina’s Tort Claims Act, whose requirements this guide does not set out and which are worth checking at the outset.

No General Criminal Statute of Limitations

CHILD USA reports that South Carolina has no general statute of limitations for criminal prosecutions: no limitation provision appears in Title 17 of the Code, which governs criminal procedure. It also notes that this position rests on the absence of a statute rather than on a court decision, and that a specific offense in Title 16 could still carry its own limit. A survivor can therefore report to law enforcement years later, subject to that caveat. The civil deadline in § 15-3-555 runs on its own terms, whether or not anyone is prosecuted.

Bringing a South Carolina Claim

Have your date of birth, the dates of the abuse or assault, and the date you connected any injury to it. Then work through:

  1. What are the 27th-birthday date and the three-year discovery date under § 15-3-555(A), and which is later?
  2. What records or testimony show when you discovered the causal link between the injury and the abuse?
  3. If the assault happened in adulthood, how do § 15-3-555 and § 15-3-530(5) compare on your facts?
  4. Is any defendant a public school district or government entity covered by the Tort Claims Act?
  5. Does the firm represent any likely defendant, diocese, or insurer in other matters?
  6. What portion of a recovery goes to fees, and which costs come out first?

Attorney Firms

(1) Motley Rice LLC

South Carolina-based nationally recognized plaintiff firm. Handles sexual abuse cases against institutions including the Diocese of Charleston, schools, and youth organizations statewide. Multi-billion dollar recovery history in mass tort and institutional abuse litigation. Free confidential consultation, contingency fee.

(2) Steinberg Law Firm

South Carolina-based personal injury firm with sexual abuse practice covering individual perpetrators and institutional defendants. Statewide office network. Free consultation, contingency fee.

(3) Herman Law

Nationally recognized survivor-focused firm. Active against Catholic Diocese of Charleston and other South Carolina institutional defendants. Free confidential consultation, contingency fee.

(4) Levy Konigsberg LLP

Nationally recognized institutional abuse firm, $3B+ recovered. Handles South Carolina claims including Diocese of Charleston and institutional defendants. Free confidential consultation, contingency fee.

(5) TFNL Group

$375M+ in verdicts and settlements. National team with dedicated sexual abuse practice. Free confidential consultation, contingency fee.

Frequently Asked Questions

I am 35 and was abused as a child. Is it too late in South Carolina?

Not necessarily. The age branch of § 15-3-555(A) closed at 27, but the discovery branch gives three years from when you discovered the injury and its causal relationship to the abuse, and the later date controls.

Has South Carolina ever revived expired claims?

No. CHILD USA found no revival provision in Chapter 3 of Title 15, and § 15-3-555 sets periods only going forward.

My parent abused me. Can family immunity block the case?

No. Section 15-3-555(B) states that parental immunity is not a defense against claims based on sexual abuse or incest, whenever the abuse occurred.

Does a criminal case have to happen first?

No. The civil periods in §§ 15-3-555 and 15-3-530 do not depend on a prosecution.

Support and Reporting Lines

Sources