Illinois Childhood Sexual Abuse Claims: What the Record Shows

Illinois sets no filing deadline for most civil claims based on childhood sexual abuse. Under 735 ILCS 5/13-202.2(f), such a claim may be commenced at any time, but only if it was not already time-barred when that rule took effect on January 1, 2014. Illinois has no revival window for claims that expired earlier, and bills that would have let previously barred claims be brought against a bankruptcy estate did not pass. Claims against private institutions proceed in state circuit courts; claims against the State go to the Illinois Court of Claims, where awards are capped.

What the Illinois statute actually says

The no-deadline rule and its limit

Subsection (f) of 735 ILCS 5/13-202.2 provides that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, an action for damages based on childhood sexual abuse may be commenced at any time. The same sentence limits the change to actions that would not have been time-barred before the amendment that made it (Public Act 98-276, effective January 1, 2014), so a claim that had already expired stays barred. The current text also reaches certain minor-trafficking offenses under Section 10-9 of the Criminal Code of 2012 (Public Act 104-159, effective January 1, 2026).

The 20-year rule that still governs some claims

Subsection (b) sets a 20-year period running from the date the limitation period begins to run under subsection (d), or 20 years from the date the person abused discovers, or should discover through reasonable diligence, both that the act occurred and that the injury was caused by it. Learning of the abuse alone does not start that clock. Under subsection (d), the period does not begin to run before the person abused turns 18, which for claims filed before January 1, 2014 generally produced an outer boundary of about age 38.

Tolling and the 2024 changes

Subsection (d-1) provides that the limitation periods do not run while the person abused is subject to threats, intimidation, manipulation, fraudulent concealment or fraud by the abuser or by anyone acting in the abuser’s interest; Public Act 101-0435, effective August 20, 2019, added fraudulent concealment to that list. Public Act 103-1053, effective December 20, 2024, provides that no contributory fault may be attributed to a plaintiff bringing such an action, and creates a rule at 735 ILCS 5/23-101 under which conduct proved to be childhood sexual abuse is per se harmful, so the plaintiff need not present additional evidence of harm.

The 2023 Illinois attorney general report on clergy abuse

On May 23, 2023, Attorney General Kwame Raoul released a report concluding a multi-year investigation into child sex abuse by Catholic clergy in all six Illinois dioceses; the report’s introduction records that the investigation was opened in 2018 under then Attorney General Lisa Madigan and continued by Raoul. The office’s release states that the report reveals names and information of 451 Catholic clerics and religious brothers who abused at least 1,997 children, against the 103 substantiated abusers the dioceses had publicly listed before the investigation. The report names each cleric it substantiated, among them Robert Boley, a Carmelite priest with Illinois assignments in Joliet and Chicago. The report is an investigative and public-accounting document issued by a state attorney general, not a court judgment, and it establishes no one’s civil liability.

What is established vs. what is alleged

Established: the text and effective dates of the Illinois limitations provisions; that the no-deadline rule is prospective only; the exclusive jurisdiction and award cap of the Court of Claims; the release of the 2023 attorney general report and the figures that office published; and the status of the two bankruptcy-related bills below.

Alleged, and not decided: the abuse described in the complaints and in the report; assertions that institutions knew of abuse and failed to act; and the timeliness of individual claims, which is contested. Secondary reporting records that the Attorney General’s Office has moved to dismiss some Court of Claims claims as too late, a litigation position rather than a ruling.

Where the claims stand procedurally

Illinois childhood sexual abuse claims are not gathered into one proceeding. Cases against dioceses, schools, hospitals and other private institutions are filed as individual lawsuits in state circuit courts. Cases against the State belong in the Illinois Court of Claims, which has exclusive jurisdiction over tort claims against the State; awards there are limited to $2,000,000 per claimant under 705 ILCS 505/8(d), adjusted annually for inflation. Secondary reporting places the number filing there over alleged abuse at state and county youth facilities at more than 900. These claims stay in state courts rather than being consolidated before one federal judge, as an overview of mass tort litigation and the guide to MDL versus class action explain.

Two proposals concern claims that overlap with a bankruptcy. Senate Bill 153 (2023), filed by Sen. Steve McClure, would have allowed such a claim against a bankruptcy estate to be brought at any time after the cause of action accrues; the bill status page records its last action as “Session Sine Die” on January 7, 2025, meaning it did not pass. Senate Bill 1626 (2025), also filed by Sen. Steve McClure, contains the same proposal and was referred to the Assignments Committee, with no further action recorded. The national Boy Scouts abuse settlement illustrates how a bankruptcy trust channels claims that no single court could hear together.

Key dates

• January 1, 2014: Public Act 98-276 takes effect, permitting childhood sexual abuse actions at any time going forward without reviving expired claims.
• August 20, 2019: Public Act 101-0435 adds fraudulent concealment to the tolling provision in subsection (d-1).
• May 23, 2023: The attorney general releases the report on Catholic clergy child sex abuse in the six Illinois dioceses.
• May 2024: The first lawsuits over alleged abuse at Illinois youth detention facilities are filed in the Court of Claims, according to the Associated Press.
• December 20, 2024: Public Act 103-1053 takes effect.
• February 4, 2025: Senate Bill 1626 is introduced and referred to the Assignments Committee.
• January 1, 2026: Public Act 104-159 takes effect.

What this does not establish

Nothing here shows that a court has found the State of Illinois, any diocese or any other institution liable for the abuse described in the lawsuits or the report. That report is not a finding of guilt, and the number of claimants does not establish that any allegation is true. Illinois has no revival window, so an expired claim is not reopened by the current statute. No global settlement or statewide compensation fund has been approved. The Court of Claims cap limits what a claimant can recover from the State.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a deadline to file a childhood sexual abuse civil claim in Illinois?

For claims that were not already barred on January 1, 2014, there is none: subsection (f) allows an action to be commenced at any time. For older claims, the question is whether the claim had expired before that date under the earlier rules, which generally allowed 20 years from a survivor’s 18th birthday or 20 years from discovery of the abuse and its connection to the injury.

Does Illinois have a lookback window like New York or California?

No. Illinois removed its civil deadline prospectively instead of opening a temporary window that revives expired claims. The statute contains no revival provision, and the bills that would have expanded what can be filed against a bankruptcy estate have not passed. Deadlines in injury cases generally are explained in this guide to the statute of limitations in injury claims.

Does the 2023 attorney general report mean a diocese has been found liable?

No. It adjudicates no claim, and no court has adopted its findings as a liability determination. It can supply context for a civil case, but the elements of a claim, including timeliness, still have to be proved in court. Institutional claims generally are covered in this background on Catholic Church abuse claims.

How people are named here. Court records in this proceeding identify complainants by pseudonym or initials, and this article follows the court's own designations rather than attempting to identify anyone. People accused of wrongdoing are named where an indictment, court filing, regulator's report or an institution's published disclosure list names them. The rule is set out in full in our editorial policy.

Sources

1. Illinois General Assembly: “735 ILCS 5/13-202.2, Childhood sexual abuse” (link, accessed 2026-10-13)
2. Illinois General Assembly: “Public Act 101-0435 (Senate Bill 1868)” (link, accessed 2026-10-13)
3. Illinois General Assembly: “Public Act 103-1053 (House Bill 222)” (link, accessed 2026-10-13)
4. Illinois General Assembly: “Bill Status of SB 153, 103rd General Assembly” (link, accessed 2026-10-13)
5. Illinois General Assembly: “Bill Status of SB 1626, 104th General Assembly” (link, accessed 2026-10-13)
6. Illinois General Assembly: “705 ILCS 505/8, Court of Claims jurisdiction” (link, accessed 2026-10-13)
7. Office of the Illinois Attorney General: “Attorney General Raoul releases report concluding multi-year investigation into child sex abuse by members of Catholic clergy in Illinois” (link, accessed 2026-10-13)
8. Associated Press: “Illinois hit with lawsuits over child sex abuse at juvenile detention centers” (secondary reporting, link, accessed 2026-10-13)
9. NBC Chicago: “Former juvenile inmates claiming sexual abuse by staff in Illinois grows to more than 900” (secondary reporting, link, accessed 2026-10-13)
10. Office of the Illinois Attorney General: “Report Introduction, The Attorney General’s Report on Catholic Clergy Child Sex Abuse in Illinois” (link, accessed 2026-10-13)
11. Office of the Illinois Attorney General: “Abuser entry: Robert Boley, The Attorney General’s Report on Catholic Clergy Child Sex Abuse in Illinois” (link, accessed 2026-10-13)

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