California removes statute of limitations on rape; New Hampshire keeps six years

On Wednesday California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill that removes the statute of limitations on rape. That means a survivor of sexual assault has no time limit on when he or she can report the crime to the police.

In New Hampshire, victims have six years to seek charges against a perpetrator. After that the state cannot prosecute. However, if the victim was under eighteen years-old at the time of the offense, the victim has until age forty to report the assault. 

California removed the statute of limitations on rape in response to the accusations against Bill Cosby. Many of the alleged assaults took place over a decade ago, which made it impossible for the state to prosecute Cosby.

"Rapists should never be able to evade legal consequences simply because an arbitrary time limit has expired," said bill author Senator Connie Leyva. 

There are many reasons a victim may not quickly report a rape, from fear to trauma to a belief that police cannot or will not treat the crime seriously.

On the other hand, the deterioration of evidence makes it extremely difficult to prove a crime after many years have passed. A statute of limitations can encourage victims to swiftly report crimes to the police.

Others argue that the statute of limitations protects individuals from false accusations. It can be difficult to prove an alibi for an event that allegedly occurred over two decades ago.