Statute of Limitations for Child Sexual Abuse / Assault in Arizona

Overview

Arizona law sets deadlines (“statute of limitations,” or “SOL”) for bringing certain criminal cases. For allegations involving child sexual abuse or child sexual assault, the deadline generally depends on the type of charge and the applicable SOL rule.

For this page, the governing baseline is Arizona’s general criminal SOL rule:

• General SOL period: 2 years
• General statute: **A.R.S. § 13-107(A)

DocketMath’s statute-of-limitations calculator is designed to help you map dates to outcomes. It’s a practical way to translate the statute into a timeline you can understand—especially when you’re dealing with delayed reporting.

Limitation period

Default deadline: 2 years under A.R.S. § 13-107(A)

Arizona’s general criminal SOL is two years. Under A.R.S. § 13-107(A), the state must usually commence prosecution within that period measured from the applicable starting point defined by Arizona’s limitations framework.

Because SOL calculations are date-driven, two practical details matter in real use:

1. The “start” date: Your calculation typically needs a clear anchor such as the date of the alleged offense or the date the statute measures from (depending on the specific circumstances and the charge).
2. The “end” date: The deadline generally runs forward for the stated SOL period. After that time, prosecution may be time-barred.

How DocketMath’s calculator changes the output

DocketMath’s statute-of-limitations tool computes the timeline using the dates you provide. Your inputs usually drive results like:

• Whether the SOL appears to be still open or past the deadline
• The calculated expiration date (based on your chosen start date)
• The days/months difference between key dates

Use the calculator to test scenarios—for example:

• If you input an earlier alleged-offense date, the expiration date may move earlier.
• If you input a later alleged-offense date, the expiration date may move later.
• If the calculated expiration date lands before the filing/prosecution date, your timeline suggests the case may be outside the SOL window under the default rule.

Key exceptions

Arizona’s criminal limitations framework can include rule-based adjustments beyond a plain “2 years from X.” Even when you’re working from the default two-year period, certain doctrines may affect how—or whether—the SOL runs.

Common categories of exceptions and adjustments in SOL systems include:

• Commencement and tolling concepts (for example, events that pause the clock)
• Special starting points tied to when the prosecution can first be brought
• Jurisdictional or procedural rules that affect the timeline for filing

However, this page is constrained to the jurisdiction data provided, and no claim-type-specific child sexual abuse/assault sub-rule was found beyond the general/default rule. That means you should not assume that a child-sexual-abuse-specific SOL extension (if one exists for a particular charge) is automatically reflected here.

Practical next step for accurate use

If you’re using DocketMath for a quick timeline:

• Start with A.R.S. § 13-107(A) as the baseline (two years).
• Then confirm whether your situation involves a different limitations rule due to the specific offense or a date-triggering exception.
• Use the calculator to see the baseline effect, but treat the output as a timeline estimate, not a final legal determination.

Statute citation

• A.R.S. § 13-107(A) — General criminal statute of limitations: 2 years (default rule)

Jurisdiction dataset summary used on this page:

Use the calculator

To run a baseline SOL timeline for Arizona under the general rule (2 years under A.R.S. § 13-107(A)), use DocketMath’s statute-of-limitations calculator here:

• Primary CTA: /tools/statute-of-limitations

What to enter (and why it matters)

In most SOL calculators, you’ll typically provide:

• Alleged offense date (or the date the SOL clock is measured from)
• Prosecution/filing date (or the date you want to compare against the deadline)

Then DocketMath will compute:

• Calculated SOL expiration date using the 2-year default
• Whether the filing/prosecution date is before or after that expiration date

How to interpret the output

Use these checklist-style interpretations:

Related reading

• Choosing the right statute of limitations tool for Vermont — Tool comparison
• Statute of limitations in Singapore: how to estimate the deadline — How-to guide
• Choosing the right statute of limitations tool for Connecticut — Tool comparison