Sexual Assault Attorneys in Minnesota: Your Complete Legal Guide

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Minnesota’s Child Victims Act lets a survivor of sexual abuse as a minor sue “at any time,” and the statute applies that rule both to the person who committed the abuse and to any person or organization whose negligence was a cause of the damages. The one category with a fixed limit is a claim of vicarious liability or respondeat superior, which must be brought within six years, and before age 24 for a survivor abused as a minor. An adult survivor has six years. Below are those rules from Minn. Stat. § 541.073, the criminal deadlines, questions for a lawyer, and four firms that represent survivors in Minnesota.

Call 911 if anyone is in danger. Day One’s 24/7 crisis line, listed for Violence Free Minnesota, is 1-866-223-1111, and the National Sexual Assault Hotline is 1-800-656-4673.

Section 541.073 is quoted from the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes, read in October 2026; criminal provisions come from CHILD USA’s review. The page summarizes Minnesota law and is not advice on any individual claim.

Abuse as a Minor: No Deadline Against the Abuser or a Negligent Organization

Minn. Stat. § 541.073, subd. 2(a), provides that an action for damages based on sexual abuse “(2) may be commenced at any time in the case of alleged sexual abuse of an individual under the age of 18, except as provided for in subdivision 4.”

Three definitions and rules shape the reach of that sentence:

  • “Sexual abuse” (subd. 1(1)) means conduct described in sections 609.342 to 609.3451 and 609.3458, the criminal sexual conduct statutes and sexual extortion.
  • “Person” (subd. 1(2)) “includes a natural person, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, organization, association, or other entity.”
  • Applicability (subd. 3): the section “applies to an action for damages commenced against a person who was a cause of the plaintiff’s damages either by (1) committing sexual abuse against the plaintiff, or (2) negligence.”

Read together, a claim that a school, church, or youth organization was negligent, for example in hiring, supervising, or responding to warnings, falls within the “at any time” rule for a survivor abused as a minor.

Two limits apply:

  • Vicarious liability and respondeat superior (subd. 4): “A claim for vicarious liability or liability under the doctrine of respondeat superior must be commenced within six years of the alleged sexual abuse, provided that if the plaintiff was under the age of 18 at the time of the alleged abuse, the claim must be commenced before the plaintiff is 24 years of age.” The subdivision “does not limit the availability of these claims under other law.”
  • Young offenders (subd. 2(a)(3)): a claim against a natural person who was under 14 at the time of the abuse “must be commenced before the plaintiff is 24 years of age.”

The difference between a negligence claim and a vicarious liability claim against the same organization can therefore decide whether the claim is timely.

Adult Survivors: Six Years

Under subd. 2(a)(1), an action “must be commenced within six years of the alleged sexual abuse in the case of alleged sexual abuse of an individual 18 years or older.” Subdivision 2(b) adds that “The plaintiff need not establish which act in a continuous series of sexual abuse acts by the defendant caused the injury,” and subd. 2(c) preserves the suspension of the limitation period during a disability under § 541.15.

The 2013 to 2016 Window Has Closed

The Child Victims Act of 2013 revived time-barred claims for abuse of a minor. CHILD USA quotes the session law: an action “may be commenced no later than three years following the effective date of this section.” The window opened May 25, 2013 and ran to about May 25, 2016; CHILD USA notes that vicarious liability and respondeat superior claims were excluded from it.

The same session law limits the “at any time” rule itself: except for the window, “this section applies to actions that were not time-barred before the effective date.” A claim that had already expired before May 25, 2013 could therefore be brought only during the window, which has closed.

Criminal Deadlines Under § 628.26

Prosecution is the state’s decision. CHILD USA quotes Minn. Stat. § 628.26(e): “Indictments or complaints for violation of sections 609.322, 609.342 to 609.345, and 609.3458 may be found or made at any time after the commission of the offense.” That covers criminal sexual conduct in the first through fourth degrees, sex trafficking and related offenses, and sexual extortion.

Fifth degree criminal sexual conduct, § 609.3451, is not on that list. CHILD USA reports that it falls to § 628.26(l): “In all other cases, indictments or complaints shall be found or made and filed in the proper court within three years after the commission of the offense.” Time is excluded while the defendant was not a Minnesota resident and while physical evidence was undergoing DNA analysis, under § 628.26(m) and (o).

The civil rules above do not depend on a prosecution.

Sorting Out a Minnesota Claim

A lawyer will want the survivor’s age at the time, the dates of the abuse, and the facts about each organization involved, because the theory of liability can change the deadline. Points to cover:

  1. Does the conduct fall within §§ 609.342 to 609.3451 or 609.3458, making it “sexual abuse” under § 541.073?
  2. For an organization, is the claim one of negligence (no deadline for abuse of a minor) or vicarious liability (six years, and before 24)?
  3. Was the person who committed the abuse under 14 at the time, triggering the age-24 limit?
  4. For an adult survivor, when did the six-year period start, given a continuous series of acts?
  5. Does a disability under § 541.15 suspend the period?
  6. Does the firm represent any likely defendant, diocese, or insurer, and how are fees calculated?

Minnesota Sexual Assault Attorneys

Jeff Anderson & Associates, P.A.

Jeff Anderson & Associates is the oldest and most prominent institutional child sexual abuse litigation firm in the United States. Founded by Jeffrey Anderson (Minnesota Bar, 1975) in November 1981 in St. Paul, the firm pioneered the use of civil litigation against the Catholic Church and other institutions for harboring child sexual abusers – a field of law Anderson essentially created. Over more than 40 years the firm has filed thousands of cases on behalf of survivors and has been responsible for landmark institutional disclosures, including the release of thousands of previously secret documents about childhood sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Jeff Anderson has been named one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Minnesota, recognized as the 2003 Lawyer of the Year by Minnesota Lawyer, and received the National Crime Victim Bar Association’s Frank Carrington Champion of Civil Justice Award. He is admitted to practice in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Colorado, New York, the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, the 8th and 9th Circuits, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Senior attorney Mike Finnegan (Yale University, B.A. Psychology, 1999; William Mitchell College of Law, J.D., 2004) has handled thousands of cases against individual perpetrators and institutions, forcing the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to release over 50,000 documents pertaining to accused priests. He was the attorney of record in a federal lawsuit that resulted in the Vatican being ordered to produce documents in a child sex abuse case for the first time. The firm maintains a national network of attorneys and offices in St. Paul, California, New Jersey, and New York. Cases are handled on contingency – no fees unless the firm wins. Free confidential consultations.

Goldenberg Lauricella PLLC

Goldenberg Lauricella is a top-rated Minneapolis personal injury and civil litigation firm with a dedicated sexual abuse practice. The firm is led by attorneys Stuart L. Goldenberg and Noah C. Lauricella and has recovered over $200 million for clients including sexual abuse survivors and personal injury plaintiffs. The firm handles sexual assault claims, institutional negligence cases, and third-party liability matters, including employer liability for workplace assault and school or organizational liability. Free confidential consultation. Contingency fee basis.

Meshbesher & Spence, Ltd.

Meshbesher & Spence is one of Minnesota’s most established personal injury firms, with multiple office locations across the state, and handles civil claims for childhood sexual abuse survivors. The firm offers free consultations, visits clients at home or in the hospital when necessary, and handles cases on a contingency basis. They assist survivors in determining whether they can recover damages and help navigate the complexities of Minnesota’s SOL framework including the distinction between direct perpetrator and institutional claims.

Storms Dworak

Storms Dworak is a Minneapolis civil rights and personal injury firm with significant experience representing survivors of sexual assault and abuse in institutional and civil rights contexts, including hospital abuse, group home abuse, foster care abuse, and religious institutional abuse. Lead attorneys Jeff Storms and Paul Dworak have each been named Attorney of the Year by Minnesota Lawyer multiple times, the highest professional honor in the state legal community. Storms earned the designation in 2013 for a $3.075 million police brutality wrongful death recovery and in 2018 for the Kendrea Johnson foster child suicide case. The firm regularly handles complex cases in both state and federal court and has secured multiple million-dollar-plus recoveries for sexual abuse, civil rights, and medical malpractice survivors. Cases handled on contingency. Free consultation.

Frequently Asked Questions

I was abused by a youth pastor at 13 and I am now 40. Can I sue the church as well as the pastor?

Possibly both. Section 541.073 sets no deadline for claims based on abuse of a minor against a person who caused the damages “by (1) committing sexual abuse against the plaintiff, or (2) negligence,” and “person” includes organizations. A claim against the church based on vicarious liability or respondeat superior, however, had to be brought before you turned 24. Both answers assume the claim had not already expired before May 25, 2013, when the “at any time” rule took effect; an older expired claim could be revived only during the window that closed in 2016.

Is every claim against an institution limited to age 24?

No. Subdivision 4’s age-24 limit applies to vicarious liability and respondeat superior claims. A negligence claim against the organization falls under the general “at any time” rule for abuse of a minor.

I was assaulted at 25. How long do I have?

Six years from the alleged sexual abuse under subd. 2(a)(1), with the rule that you need not prove which act in a continuous series caused the injury.

Can fifth degree criminal sexual conduct be prosecuted years later?

CHILD USA reports that it is not among the offenses with no time limit in § 628.26(e) and falls under the three-year residual period.

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