Bailey v. State

Summary

The Nevada Supreme Court held that the extended statute of limitations in NRS 171.095(1)(b) applied to a charge of lewdness with a child under fourteen because the offense constituted sexual abuse of a child under NRS 432B.100. Because the victim knew of the abuse and was under twenty-one when the complaint was filed, the prosecution was timely and the conviction was affirmed.

Holdings

1. Lewdness with a child under fourteen under NRS 201.230 is an offense constituting sexual abuse of a child under NRS 432B.100; therefore, the extended limitations period in NRS 171.095(1)(b), rather than the general three-year period in NRS 171.085 and NRS 171.095(1)(a), applies.
2. When the victim discovers or reasonably should have discovered the sexual abuse by age twenty-one, a charging document may be filed any time before the victim reaches age twenty-one, regardless of when the offense was discovered.
3. The prosecution was timely because the victim, born in June 1989, was under twenty-one when the complaint was filed on May 8, 2002; the limitations period therefore extended until June 2010.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the three-year statute of limitations for felonies committed in a secret manner under NRS 171.095(1)(a) governed the prosecution.
2. Whether lewdness with a child under fourteen constitutes sexual abuse of a child under NRS 432B.100, making the extended limitations period in NRS 171.095(1)(b) applicable.
3. Whether the State timely filed the charging document before the victim reached age twenty-one.

Disposition

affirmed