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 Madigan testified today before the Senate Criminal Law Committee
in support of Senate Bill 189 to eliminate Illinois’ statutes of
limitations that can allow child predators to go unpunished. Joining
Madigan in testifying was Scott Cross, a survivor, Sen. Scott
Bennett, the bill’s sponsor, and St. Clair County State’s Attorney
Brendan Kelly.
The bill passed unanimously and heads to the full Senate for
consideration.
“Children who suffer sexual assault and abuse often spend a lifetime
trying to recover from the violations they have experienced,”
Madigan said. “There should be no limitation on the pursuit of
justice for felony sex crimes committed against children. We must
ensure survivors are able to come forward in their own time and
receive the support they need and deserve.”
 “Dennis Hastert inflicted unbelievable pain on the lives of the
youth he was entrusted to care for, yet he got a slap on the wrist,”
Scott Cross said. “As a teacher and coach, Hastert silenced his
victims through the power he had over them. As he ascended to
political power and seemingly became untouchable, the pain and
suffering of survivors got buried. He had the power, prestige and
law on his side. As hard as it is to talk about the events of the
past, the laws in Illinois - and across the country - have to
change.”
“As a former prosecutor, I have witnessed firsthand the devastating
physical and emotional impacts of child sex crimes. It is because of
these experiences that I believe we must have the ability to
prosecute the perpetrators of these horrendous crimes whenever the
survivors come forward – even if that is years after the crime,”
Bennett said.
“There is no time limit for the pain and trauma endured by child
victims of sex assault, and there should be no time limit for our
ability to reach just for them,” Brendan Kelly said.
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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 country 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 Jan. 1, 2014 and either corroborating physical evidence
exists or a mandated reporter failed to report the abuse.
[Office of the Attorney General Lisa
Madigan]
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