COLUMBUS (OH)
WXIX - Fox19 [Cincinnati OH]
May 7, 2026
By Caroline Gerhart
Ohio is among a handful of states that maintain criminal statute of limitations for child rape
Rebecca Surendorff has been fighting to change Ohio’s statute of limitations since 2019, when a priest with a pattern of abuse was assigned to her children’s school.
That prompted her to start Ohioans for Child Protection, a group that has spent years pushing lawmakers to act. She said most Ohioans don’t realize where their state stands.
“We are amongst a handful of states that have created a legal sanctuary for the criminal statute of limitations. Most of the country has eliminated their statute of limitations criminally for child rape. And most people don’t realize that we have a bit of a legal sanctuary here in Ohio — that we provide that benefit to offenders,” Surendorff said.
Ohio lags behind most states
According to a 2013 report from the U.S. Department of Justice, 25 states had already eliminated the statute of limitations for rape for victims of any age. Ohio was not among them. Advocates said in the decade since, Ohio has fallen even further behind, while the science used to solve these cases has only gotten more powerful.
Not everyone agrees the law needs to change. Criminal defense attorney Clyde Bennett argues extending the statute of limitations raises serious due process concerns.
“The older the case is, the more unreliable and unfair it is to defend yourself. Witnesses become unavailable. Their memory fades. Physical evidence is degraded. Physical evidence is lost. It makes the process more unfair than it should be,” Bennett said.
But Surendorff said other states have found ways to make it work and argues the real cost of inaction is survivors being left unheard and disrespected.
“If one-fifth of the cars in the state had been stolen, they would make this a priority. But instead, one in four girls are being sexually abused. One in six kids are being exploited online. Why should we allow this horrific harm to continue when we can pass smart laws that will not drag innocent people into court?” Surendorff said.
Advocates say Ohio voters hold the key
Jessica Miranda, Hamilton County auditor and former Ohio state legislator, said the spark to flame change is in the hands of Ohio voters.
“Now that these rape kits are becoming more prevalent, it’s proving that the DNA does not lie — that the DNA is there, sitting on shelves somewhere in some storage room. And we need to break all of those open and hopefully that will make their lawmakers want to do something and reform these laws here in the state,” Miranda said.
FBI Cincinnati responded with a statement: “The FBI and our law enforcement partners are committed to pursuing justice. We utilize creative investigative methods and new scientific advancements to hold criminals accountable. In some cases, investigations take more time to reach the prosecutive stage, but we never forget about the victims and never stop fighting for justice.”
Gerry Ahrens, a survivor and advocate, said the focus should be on protecting children.
“The first wave guys are old now. It’s over for us. We’re not the focus. It’s about the children,” Ahrens said.
No active bill to extend criminal statute of limitations
House Bill 659, sponsored by Representatives C. Allison Russo and Eric Synenberg, would extend the civil statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse. But it applies only to civil cases, not criminal prosecution, and has not moved from the House Judiciary Committee since February.
There is currently no active bill in Ohio that would extend or eliminate the criminal statute of limitations for rape.
The Ohio Attorney General’s office and the U.S. Attorney’s office were not able to participate by the deadline for this story.