Attorney General Madigan Applauds State Senate Passage of Bill That Would Eliminate Statutes of Limitations on Child Sex Abuse

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is applauding members of the Illinois Senate for passing legislation to elminate the statutes of limitations for felony criminal sexual assault and sexual abuse crimes against children.

(LISA MADIGAN)

Senate Bill 189, sponsored by Sen. Scott Bennett, passed out of the Senate Wednesday by a vote of 54-0 and will now be considered by House lawmakers. The bill would eliminate Illinois' statutes of limitations on child sex crimes that could allow child predators to go unpunished.

As more child survivors of abuse and sexual assault have come forward to describe the difficult process that they have endured in reporting, states across the county have eliminated statutes of limitations for these crimes. Nationwide, 36 other states and the federal government have removed criminal statutes of limitations for some or all sexual offenses against children.

Currently, no statutes of limitations exist in Illinois for murder, involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, arson, treason, forgery, or the production of child pornography. Under current state law, the most egregious sexual offenses against children must be reported and prosecuted within 20 years of the survivor turning 18 years old. Two exceptions include cases in which the crimes were committed on or after January 1, 2014 and either corroborating physical evidence exists or a mandated reporter failed to report the abuse.