Can a person who is 19 years old being accused of rape when they were a juvenile still be charged?

Question

Can a person who is now 19 still be charged, if at age 13 they committed rape against a then 11-year-old victim?

Assume that the victim didn’t come forward earlier because the perpetrator threatened to hurt their family if they told.

Answer 1

Sexual activity with a child between 8 and 13 years of age is "child rape" in Tennessee, which is a Class A felony. As far as I can tell from the RAINN chart of statutes of limitation, the limit has not yet expired for this crime that took place 8 years ago - and never will under TCA 40-2-101 q:

2. A person may be prosecuted, tried, and punished for an offense listed in subdivision (q)(1) at any time after the commission of an offense if:

   a) The victim was under thirteen (13) years of age at the time of the offense[...]

However, since the defendant was a minor at the time of the offense, I think they would be prosecuted in juvenile court. There are some conditions where a juvenile will be prosecuted as an adult, but they mostly apply to juveniles at least 16, or commit certain crimes (including aggravated rape) when younger than this. Some statutory rape charges are mitigated when the age difference between the perpetrator and victim is less than 4 years, although I don't think this applies to rape of a child.

I haven't been able to find any specific consideration for the situation where the defendant was under 16 at the time of the offense and is now at least 18. But it doesn't seem right that they should be prosecuted based on their age at the time the offense is reported, rather than when it took place.