NJ statute of limitations on sexual solicitation

Factual Questions
1

Very specific question, but I’m finding the New Jersey laws hard to track down.

20 years ago, when I was 15 or 16, I was sexually solicited by an ~21 year old man (he asked for a blowjob) who was in a position of trust. I’m unlikely to do anything about it, but I’m just curious: was this a crime, and could he still be prosecuted?

2

I have no clue on New Jersey’s statute of limitations.

I can provide this tangential but perhaps useful bit of information: in conncection with the Catholic child molestation scandals, it was widely publicized that the statute of limitations on sexual molestation of a minor was extended until the former minor’s 28th birthday, giving them seven years after their majority to pursue a claim or prosecution against their molester.

3

Thanks.

4

That’s a crime?

5

without knowing the specific NJ statute, three possible crimes come to mind:

  • the OP was a minor and the person was ~21 - that might negate consent;

  • the person was in a position of trust vis-à-vis the OP, so that also might negate consent;

  • usually, modern sexual assault statutes provide that soliciting forbidden sexual acts, such as the two hypothesised above, is also an offence, even if no sexual activity took place.

6

Propositioning in general? Probably not. Propositioning a minor? Yes. definitely.

7

I wasn’t seeing this person as a minor. I never found myself in a situation like such, and I assumed that the age-of-consent hurdle was passed in this situation.

8

The age of consent in NJ is 16. Under some circumstances you can consent at age 13 with a partner who is within 4 years of your age.

If sexual contact had occurred and you were 15, I believe it would have been a crime under my reading of NJ Criminal Code 2C:14-2, by virtue of the fact that he was at last four years older than you.

You say that the person was in a position of trust. To meet that burden in NJ law, he has to meet certain criteria (related by blood, legal guardian, supervisory or disciplinary power). If he did not meet any of these criteria, you were 16, and you were not otherwise impaired, I don’t believe a sexual encounter would have been illegal.

I do not know whether the mere solicitation of a sexual act of a 15-year old would qualify as a crime under 2c:24-4 Endangering Welfare of Children). At 16, you would clearly have been outside of the scope of that law. There are more recent laws that are relevant (such as 2A:61B-1, New Jersey’s Child Sexual Abuse Act) which would not apply to acts from 20 years ago.

Statute of limitation for civil suits would be 2 years. For criminal charges, it’s five years after the victim’s 18th birthday.

I am not your lawyer and this is not legal advice.