H 5203

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