The Statute of Limitations Defense in Michigan Sex Crime Cases

A statute of limitations sets the time within which the state may file a criminal charge. In Michigan it is described as a defense the accused may raise, and whether it applies depends on the offense charged and the date it is alleged to have happened.^[6] For first-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC), the current statute says an indictment may be found and filed at any time.^[1]

This page explains what the statute and the cited authorities say. It is not legal advice and is not a recommendation to rely on any defense. Working out whether a period has run in a particular case requires the exact dates and every version of the statute in force since the alleged offense.

This page explains the limitations period as a defense: which periods apply, what stops the clock, how the defense is raised and lost, and who decides a dispute about dates. A fuller table of periods for each offense is in The statute of limitations for sex crimes.

What are the time limits for sex offenses?

Offense	Period under MCL 767.24
First-degree CSC	At any time.[1]
Second- or third-degree CSC committed on or after April 2, 2025	Within 15 years after the offense or by the alleged victim's 42nd birthday, whichever is later.[3]
Second- or third-degree CSC committed before April 2, 2025, victim under 18	Under 2018 PA 182: within 15 years after the offense or by the alleged victim's 28th birthday, whichever is later.[7]
Second- or third-degree CSC committed before April 2, 2025, other victims	Under 2018 PA 182: within 10 years after the offense or by the alleged victim's 21st birthday, whichever is later.[7]
Fourth-degree CSC and assault with intent to commit CSC	Within 10 years after the offense or by the alleged victim's 21st birthday, whichever is later.[8]
Child sexually abusive material (MCL 750.145c)	Within 10 years after the offense or by the alleged victim's 21st birthday, whichever is later.[8]
Offenses with no period of their own in the statute	Within 6 years after the offense is committed.[9]

The 2018 figures in the table govern second- and third-degree offenses committed before April 2, 2025 and after that act took effect. Offenses older than that are governed by whichever versions of the statute were in force over time, and this library has not read the versions before 2018 other than the 2001 change for first-degree CSC; it states no figures for them.^[7][2]

Why does the date of the offense matter so much?

Because the Legislature has lengthened these periods more than once, and the statute says which cases each change reaches.

• The 2025 change is prospective. The changes made by the 2024 amendatory act apply to offenses committed on or after its effective date and do not apply retroactively to an offense committed before that date.^[3] The act took effect April 2, 2025.^[3]
• An extension reaches only charges that were still alive. The extension or tolling of a limitations period applies to any violation for which the limitations period has not expired at the time the extension or tolling takes effect.^[5]
• An expired period is not revived. The limit for first-degree CSC was changed in 2001 from a six-year period to "at any time." The Court of Appeals held in People v Blackmer (2015) that the extension could not revive a charge for which the limitations period had already run.^[2]

Working out the deadline for an older offense therefore means tracing each version of the statute from the offense date forward. The law changes timeline lists the amendments this library has verified.

What stops or extends the clock?

Living outside Michigan

Any period during which the party charged did not usually and publicly reside within the state is not part of the time within which the indictment may be found and filed.^[4]

The alleged victim's age

Several periods are written as the later of a number of years or a birthday: the 42nd birthday for second- and third-degree CSC committed on or after April 2, 2025, and the 21st birthday for fourth-degree CSC and assault with intent to commit CSC.^[3][8] Why reports are sometimes made long after the events is discussed in Delayed reporting of sexual assault.

Unidentified DNA

If evidence of the offense is obtained and that evidence contains DNA that is determined to be from an unidentified individual, an indictment against that individual may be found and filed at any time after the offense is committed.^[10] After the individual is identified, the current statute gives 15 years after the identification or the alleged victim's 42nd birthday, whichever is later, for second- and third-degree CSC, and 10 years after the identification or the alleged victim's 21st birthday, whichever is later, for fourth-degree CSC and assault with intent to commit CSC.^[10] "Identified" means the individual's legal name is known and the individual has been determined to be the source of the DNA.^[10] The 42nd-birthday figure is one of the 2024 changes, which apply to offenses committed on or after April 2, 2025.^[3] See DNA evidence in sex crime cases.

How is the defense raised?

The Criminal Proceedings Benchbook, a reference Michigan judges use, describes the statute of limitations in a criminal case as "an affirmative, waivable, nonjurisdictional defense."^[6] The benchbook does not define the three words in that passage; what it says about waiver and preservation follows.

Feature	What it means
Waivable	The Court of Appeals said in People v Wade (2025) that a statute-of-limitations defense is waivable even in criminal cases, and if the defendant waived the issue, appellate review is unavailable.[11]

The benchbook reports a 2025 Court of Appeals decision, People v Wade, on what happens when the defense is not raised. To preserve the argument for appeal, the defendant had to raise it in the trial court.^[11] That case involved a firearm charge, not a sex offense. Because the defendant had not intentionally relinquished a known right, the court treated the failure as forfeiture, applied the plain error standard, and vacated the time-barred conviction.^[12]

The benchbook quotes Wade for the distinction: waiver is the intentional relinquishment of a known right; forfeiture is merely the failure to timely assert a right.^[12]

How can the defense be lost?

The benchbook identifies a plea. An unconditional plea of guilty or no contest waives the defendant's right to challenge the conviction on the ground that the applicable limitations period had expired.^[6] The rights a court explains before taking a plea are in Plea bargains in CSC cases.

Who decides a dispute about dates?

The periods in MCL 767.24 are measured from facts: the date of the offense, the alleged victim's birthday, the identification of a DNA source, and whether the party charged usually and publicly resided in Michigan.^[3][10][4] The Criminal Proceedings Benchbook states that factual disputes about a statute of limitations issue arising under MCL 767.24 are questions to be decided by a jury, citing a 1996 Court of Appeals decision.^[11]

Dates also matter for a reason unrelated to limitations. Where the prosecution offers evidence of multiple acts, each of which would satisfy a single charged offense, the Michigan Supreme Court has said the jury must be instructed to agree unanimously on the same specific act if the acts are materially distinct or there is reason to believe jurors may be confused or disagree about the factual basis of guilt.^[13]

What the defense does not cover

• Delay in reporting, by itself. The provisions quoted on this page measure time from the offense, the alleged victim's birthday, or the identification of a DNA source; the date of the report is not one of the measures.^[3][10]
• Missed evidence-kit deadlines. A person accused of a crime has no standing to object to a failure to comply with the sexual assault kit submission deadlines.^[14]
• Civil cases. Lawsuits for damages have their own limitation periods under different statutes; see Civil lawsuits for sexual assault.

What people get wrong

"There's a 10-year limit on sex crimes." There is no single figure. Under the current statute first-degree CSC may be charged at any time, and second- and third-degree offenses committed on or after April 2, 2025 have the 15-year or 42nd-birthday period.^[1][3]

"The new law brought old cases back." The 2025 change is not retroactive, and an extension applies only where the earlier period had not expired.^[3][5]

"Moving out of state runs out the clock." Time spent not usually and publicly residing in Michigan is excluded.^[4]

"The judge will catch it." The benchbook describes the defense as waivable and states that an unconditional guilty or no contest plea waives it.^[6] The other defenses and their limits are summarized in Defenses to sex crime charges; identity questions that arise in older cases are covered in Identity, alibi and DNA.