HBA-SEP H.B. 224 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 224 By: Wise Criminal Jurisprudence 1/31/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Many cases of child victimization go unreported for years because child victims are often too young, confused, emotionally traumatized, afraid to report the victimization, or unaware that what happened is a crime. There is a recurring difficulty in prosecuting such cases because the child did not report the crime until a number of years later and the statute of limitations had expired. Currently, the statute of limitations for indecency with a child by engaging in sexual contact, sexual assault of a child, or aggravated sexual assault of a child is ten years from the victim's 18th birthday and the statute of limitations for indecency with a child by exposure is ten years from the date of the commission of the offense. House Bill 224 changes the statute of limitations for these offenses to ten years from the victim's 16th birthday. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 224 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure by changing the statute of limitations for indecency with a child by engaging in sexual contact, sexual assault of a child, or aggravated sexual assault of a child from ten years from the victim's 18th birthday to ten years from the victim's 16th birthday. H. B. 224 changes the statute of limitations for indecency with a child by exposure from ten years from the date of the commission of the offense to ten years from the 16th birthday of the victim of the offense. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.