Legal Rights and Options

~Confidentiality and Mandatory Reporting

What a survivor shares with a CSVA is confidential with a few exceptions: if there is a disclosure of child abuse by a family member or caretaker, if there is a disclosure of the abuse of a vulnerable adult (which is a person over the age of 18 that lacks the ability to care for themselves), or if there is a clear threat to harm themselves or another person. By law, the CSVA is required to breach confidentiality and report these incidents to the proper authorities.

~Survivors Reporting to Law Enforcement

The decision to report the sexual assault is completely up to the survivor.

Here at Karolina's Place, we believe in empowering survivors to find their voices and regain control of their lives. While it is true that the sooner law enforcement is able to begin investigating, the better the chances are of gathering evidence, we would NEVER force anyone to go through any part of the process they were not ready for. The survivor still has the right to have the Sexual Assault Forensic Exam (SAFE) done, even if they choose not to report. This is called the "Jane Doe" or "John Doe" option.

~Jane/John Doe

Choosing to go Jane or John Doe enables a victim to have forensic evidence collected without reporting to law enforcement officers. Upon completion of the exam, survivors are provided with a code number they can use to identify themselves with should they choose to report at a later date. If the survivor is:

• Under the age of eighteen (18), they have up to twenty (20) years after their 18th birthday;
• Eighteen (18) years of age and over, the kit is held for twenty (20) years.

limitations for sexual assault. NJCASA | The New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault. https://njcasa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Civil-Statute-of-Limitations.pdf

The Official Web Site for The State of New Jersey. https://www.nj.gov/oag/njvictims/pdfs/Civil-Sexual-Assault-Statute-of-Limitations-One-Pager.pdf

~New Jersey’s Statewide Tracking System

New Jersey launched a statewide tracking system called Track-Kit on July 30, 2025. If you had a Sexual Assault Forensic Exam (SAFE), you can follow your kit yourself (where it is and what stage it is at, from collection through lab analysis to storage) without having to call the police or anyone else to ask.

~What You Can See

The portal shows your kit’s location and status at each stage. You will also be told when something changes in your case, including whether a DNA profile was developed, entered into a database, or matched. These notification rights are written into New Jersey law.

~Your Privacy Is Protected

You do not need to give your name to check on your kit, and checking does not commit you to making a police report. If your kit was collected anonymously as a Jane or John Doe kit, you can still track it using the kit number alone.

~How to Get Access

Your kit’s tracking number and portal information are given to you at the time of your exam. If your exam happened before the system launched, or you have lost your paperwork, the hospital or forensic nurse program that collected your kit can help you get access. You can also call our 24/7 hotline at 908-233-7273 and an advocate will help you navigate it. You never have to do this alone.

References

New Jersey Office of the Attorney General. (2025). Attorney General Platkin announces launch of tracking system for sexual assault forensic exams. https://www.njoag.gov/attorney-general-platkin-announces-launch-of-tracking-system-for-sexual-assault-forensic-exams/

State of New Jersey, Office of the Governor. (2025). Governor Murphy signs legislation (S715/A908) establishing a statewide tracking system for sexual assault forensic evidence kits. https://www.nj.gov/governor/news/news/562025/20250123a.shtml

“Jane Doe” and “John Doe” are not only names for anonymous forensic kits. Courts also use them so that a survivor’s real name stays out of public view during legal proceedings.

~If You Were Under 18 When It Happened

New Jersey law gives especially strong protection to survivors who were under 18 at the time of the offense. Under N.J.S.A. 2A:82-46, your name, address, and identity may not appear in public indictments, complaints, or other public court records. Initials or a fictitious name must be used instead. Records that do contain your identity are confidential and kept from the public unless a judge finds good cause to release them after a hearing where you get notice. Purposely releasing a survivor’s protected information is itself an offense under the statute.

~If You Were an Adult

Adult survivors can ask the court for permission to proceed under a pseudonym in a civil case. It is not automatic. It is requested by motion and decided case by case, but a confidential advocate or an attorney can walk you through what is realistic in your situation. Call 908-233-7273 any time to talk it through.

References

N.J.S.A. 2A:82-46. Confidentiality of identity of victim under age 18. https://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/title-2a/section-2a-82-46/

Whether a deadline applies does not depend on how you describe what happened to you. It depends on the specific offense a prosecutor believes the evidence supports. Here is how New Jersey’s deadlines break down:

Three things worth knowing alongside that table. The 20-year kit retention rule is about preserving evidence, not a deadline to press charges. Those are separate clocks. There is never a deadline to seek medical care, talk with an advocate, or ask about your kit. And even where a deadline could apply to a lesser charge, a kit can still matter: it can help investigators assess whether the evidence supports a charge that has no time limit at all.

References

N.J.S.A. 2C:1-6. Time limitations. https://law.justia.com/codes/new-jersey/title-2c/section-2c-1-6/

New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault. (2023). Attorney General law enforcement directive expands evidence retention for SAFE kits. https://njcasa.org/attorney-general-law-enforcement-directive-expands-evidence-retention-and-revises-guidelines-procedures-for-retaining-safe-kits/

RAINN. (n.d.). New Jersey statutes of limitation for sexual assault crimes. https://apps.rainn.org/policy/policy-crime-definitions-export.cfm?state=New%20Jersey&group=7

• Choose whether to report to law enforcement.
• Be free from any suggestion that they must report the crime to have their rights guaranteed.
• Be free from any suggestion that victims should refrain from reporting crimes in order to avoid unwanted personal publicity.
• Have their report of sexual assault treated seriously.
• Existing medical, counseling, mental health, or other services available for victims of sexual assault, whether or not the crime is reported to law enforcement.
• Treatment and interviews provided in a language in which the victim is fluent.
• Assistive devices to accommodate disabilities that the victim may have.
• Testing for HIV or any other sexually transmitted infections and assistance with compelling and disclosing the results of testing for a communicable disease from the person who caused harm.
• Evidence collection and preservation. Evidence collection is time sensitive and should occur within seven days of the assault. Survivors can choose to have evidence collected whether or not they pursue a criminal case. All forensic evidence is retained for a minimum of twenty years. If the survivor chooses to report to police, either at the time of collection or later, they can request information on the status of the evidence.
• Financial compensation. The Victims of Crime Compensation Office (VCCO) offers assistance with accessing compensation for expenses that occurred as a result of an assault, including the cost of mental health counseling, medical bills, relocation, and loss of earnings. Survivors can reach the VCCO at (877) 658-2221 or http://www.NJVictims.org.
• A civil protective order. Under the Sexual Assault Survivor Protection Act of 2015, survivors can seek a civil protective order against the person who caused them harm if there is risk of further harm.
• The no-cost services of a Sexual Assault Response Team (SART), if the survivor is over the age of 13. A SART is comprised of a Confidential Sexual Violence Advocate (CSVA), a Law Enforcement Officer (LEO), and a Forensic Nurse Examiner (FNE).

The survivor can choose to work with one, two, or all three of the SART members.

For many survivors, their experience lasts beyond the assault itself. There are often fears that their assailant would one day return and hurt them again in some way.

V.I.N.E. is a free confidential service that allows crime victims and other concerned citizens access to information regarding offenders. To register with the service, you will need one of the following:

• Offender Name & Date of Birth

• Offender SBI (State Bureau of Identification) number

• Release

• Transfer

• Escape

• Return from Escape

• Unsupervised Custody

• Out to Court

• DOC Parole Actions

• Death

Click HERE to learn more about the New Jersey V.I.N.E. Service.