South Dakota Sexual Abuse Lawsuits

South Dakota’s civil statute of limitations (SOL) laws are less victim friendly in providing survivors of childhood sexual abuse an avenue to justice than many other states around the country. The state also appears to be heading in the wrong direction as SOL reform bills are consistently voted down. Civil SOL laws enable lawyers handling sexual abuse claims in South Dakota to file cases against sexual predators, including clergy members, and the Catholic Church.

Below you will find information on South Dakota’s statute of limitations laws. These laws are important because they dictate how long a lawyer handling South Dakota sexual assault cases has to file a claim on behalf of a survivor. In addition, we’ve compiled a list of South Dakota’s ‘credibly’ accused priests released by South Dakota’s Dioceses.

South Dakota Statute of Limitations for Sexual Abuse & Assault

South Dakota has made little to no progress in the past decade towards helping survivors of sexual abuse get civil justice. The state’s civil age cap is on the lower end of the spectrum when compared to many other states, which means it could be doing much more to help survivors. There also doesn’t appear to be any plans in the near future to open any sort of revival window for time-barred claims as bills to do just that have failed.

Criminal Statute of Limitations Laws for South Dakota

In South Dakota, there is no criminal SOL for child sex abuse for Class A, B, or C felonies. For all other sex abuse felonies and misdemeanors, the criminal SOL is capped at age 25. Child USA, who has evaluated every state based on its criminal statute of limitations laws, gave South Dakota a Criminal SOL letter grade of C, on the traditional A-F scale, where A is the best. A letter grade of C is defined as an elimination of the criminal SOL for some/all felonies only.

Civil Statute of Limitations Laws for South Dakota

In South Dakota, the civil SOL for child sex abuse claims is age 21. There is a discovery rule which is 3 years from when the victim discovers the connection between the injury and abuse. The discovery rule only revives the claim against individual perpetrators, not against others, including the organizations who may be responsible for covering up the abuse. Child USA, who has also evaluated every state based on its civil statute of limitations laws, gave South Dakota a Civil SOL Age Cap letter grade of F, on the traditional A-F scale, where A is the best. A letter grade of F is defined as a civil SOL age cap age 34 or younger.

If you or someone you love was sexually abused or assaulted in South Dakota, contact us now. Due to South Dakota’s current SOL laws, those sexually abused as a minor may still have a claim against their abuser, depending on how long ago the abuse occurred. Even if the abuser is deceased, you may still have a claim against the organization responsible.

Go to our main sexual abuse page to learn more about the process of filing a clergy sexual abuse claim.

South Dakota Catholic Dioceses Release Names of Clergy Credibly Accused of Sexual Abuse of Children

Catholic Dioceses in South Dakota have released the names of priests and clergy members who they deemed to be ‘credibly accused’ of sexual abuse of a child.

The lists below will be updated as litigation or investigations are concluded so that new names of credibly accused priests in South Dakota can be added.

Use the links below to navigate directly to a particular diocese’s clergy list.

• Diocese of Rapid City Credibly Accused Priest List
• Diocese of Sioux Falls Credibly Accused Priest List

Diocese of Rapid City Credibly Accused Priest List

Diocese of Sioux Falls Credibly Accused Priest List

Click to view our larger list of accused priests. Here you can search by accused clergy first and last name, Parish/Diocese, city and state, and even by the years of their assignments.

South Dakota Sexual Abuse Lawsuits: News & Updates