ASSEMBLY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND WOMEN'S
AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
ASSEMBLY, No. 4966
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: MAY 05, 2025
The Assembly Community Development and Women's Affairs
Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments
Assembly Bill No. 4966.
This amended bill eliminates the statute of limitations for
criminal prosecutions of kidnapping and human trafficking, and
extends the statute of limitations under which a victim of human
trafficking may bring a civil suit against the perpetrator.
Under current law, a prosecution for kidnapping or human
trafficking must be commenced, by way of an indictment, within
five years after the offense is committed. Additionally, a civil suit
brought by a victim of human trafficking must also be filed within
five years.
Under the bill, a criminal prosecution for kidnapping or human
trafficking may be commenced at any time. Also, under the bill, a
civil suit may be filed by a victim of human trafficking within 10
years of the conduct, within 10 years of a victim turning 18 years
old if the victim is a minor, or within two years of a plaintiff’s
discovery of the injury, whichever is later. Extending the civil
statute of limitations for human trafficking to 10 years will bring
State law into accord with similar provisions under federal law.
Under the bill, the civil statute of limitations for human
trafficking will not begin to run until a continuing course of conduct
relating to the human trafficking of the plaintiff is terminated.
Furthermore, the statute of limitations may be tolled for any period
of time during which the plaintiff is under a disability, which
includes any intellectual disability, hospitalization for mental
illness, or finding of mental incapacity.
Finally, the bill prohibits a defendant who coerced a plaintiff
who is a victim of human trafficking to delay filing suit by means
of intimidation, duress, threats, or fraud from asserting a defense
that the statute of limitations has already run.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS :
The committee amended the bill to eliminate the statute of
limitations for criminal prosecutions for the crime of kidnapping; as
introduced, the bill only eliminated the statute of limitations for
human trafficking crimes.