Alongside state law, a federal statute lets people who were victimized as minors by certain federal crimes sue for damages in federal court. Since 2022 that statute has had no time limit. Here is what it covers, what it allows a court to award, and its limits.
Reviewed by Survivor Justice Alliance · Updated 2026-10-21
Most civil claims for childhood sexual abuse are brought under state law, and state filing deadlines vary widely. Federal law adds a separate remedy. Section 2255 of Title 18 of the United States Code gives a civil cause of action to any person who, while a minor, was a victim of a violation of one of the federal criminal statutes it lists and who suffers personal injury as a result.
The statute says the injury counts regardless of whether it occurred while the person was still a minor. A survivor whose harm surfaced years later is not excluded for that reason alone.
Section 2255 does not cover every form of abuse. It applies to violations of specific federal statutes: sections 1589, 1590, 1591, 2241(c), 2242, 2243, 2251, 2251A, 2252, 2252A, 2260, 2421, 2422 and 2423 of Title 18. Those sections include federal offenses involving forced labor and trafficking, sexual abuse, the sexual exploitation of children, and transporting or enticing minors for illegal sexual activity.
Because the remedy depends on an underlying federal offense, the first question is whether the conduct falls under one of those sections. That is a fact-specific legal judgment, and it is one of the first things to raise with an attorney.
A person who brings a successful claim under section 2255 recovers either the actual damages they sustained or liquidated damages of $150,000, along with the cost of the action, including reasonable attorney's fees and other litigation costs reasonably incurred. The court may also award punitive damages and other preliminary and equitable relief it considers appropriate.
Those are the categories the statute allows. What any particular case may be worth, or whether it succeeds at all, depends on the facts, the evidence and the defendant.
Congress changed the filing deadline in the Eliminating Limits to Justice for Child Sex Abuse Victims Act of 2022, Public Law 117-176, approved September 16, 2022. Section 2255(b) now reads that there shall be no time limit for the filing of a complaint commencing an action under the section.
The change has a boundary. According to the law's effective-date provision, it applies to claims that would not already have been barred under the prior version of section 2255(b) on the day before enactment, and to claims arising after enactment. Before 2022, a claim generally had to be filed within 10 years after the plaintiff reasonably discovered the violation or injury, or within 10 years after the victim turned 18. A claim that had already expired under that older rule before September 16, 2022 is not revived by the statute's text.
A section 2255 case is brought in a United States district court that meets the ordinary federal venue rules in 28 U.S.C. 1391. The statute also allows the defendant to be served in any district where the defendant lives or may be found.
Section 2255 claims are often brought against the person who committed the offense. Whether anyone else can be held responsible under this statute is a contested legal question, and an attorney who handles federal civil claims can explain how courts in your circuit have treated it.
If the abuse you experienced as a minor may have involved one of the listed federal offenses, for example the production or distribution of images, trafficking, or travel across state lines, the federal remedy is worth raising with an attorney even if a state deadline has passed. A state claim and a federal claim are not the same, and one may be available when the other is not.
The Survivor Justice Alliance is a civil-justice information resource, not a law firm, and does not give legal advice. A licensed attorney can review your situation, and you can ask any attorney how they charge before you agree to anything. If you need support now, RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline is free, confidential and available 24/7 at 800-656-4673.
The Survivor Justice Alliance is a civil-justice information resource, not a law firm; nothing here is legal advice. Attorney advertising. Support is available 24/7 at the RAINN hotline, 800-656-4673.
No. It applies to people who, while minors, were victims of a violation of one of the specific federal statutes it lists, and who suffered personal injury as a result. Many cases of childhood abuse are handled only under state law.
Since September 16, 2022, the statute says there is no time limit for filing. That rule covers claims that were not already barred under the old 10-year rule on that date and claims arising afterward. It does not revive claims that had already expired.
The statute lets a successful plaintiff recover either actual damages or liquidated damages of $150,000, plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees. Liquidated damages are a set amount written into the statute rather than an amount proved item by item.
They are separate legal paths with different rules and deadlines. Whether both are available depends on the facts, so ask an attorney to evaluate each one.