When a parent drops a child off at school, church, practice, camp or an after-school program, they are handing over responsibility for that child's safety. The organization accepts it. Its staff decide who is alone with the child, which adults are trusted with access and what happens when something seems wrong. When sexual abuse occurs in that setting, the question is not only what one adult did. It is also what the organization allowed.
Illinois survivors of child sexual assault or abuse can explore that question in civil court without a police report, a criminal charge or a conviction. The inquiry centers on whichever institution had care of the child: what it knew, what it reasonably should have known and how it acted.
Why Children Are Treated Differently
An adult who is harmed can sometimes refuse, walk away or report. A child usually can do none of those things. Children cannot legally consent. They often cannot remove themselves from a classroom, team, parish or placement. And reporting, especially to the adults who work alongside the abuser, is rarely safe or even imaginable for a child. Illinois courts approach childhood claims with that reality in mind, which is one reason the rules for a childhood claim differ from those for an adult one.
The Duty to Supervise
Organizations entrusted with children owe them protection. The theory that most often carries a childhood abuse claim is negligent supervision: the institution failed to adequately oversee the child, or the adults with access to the child, and abuse followed. In practice, other theories usually run together with it, and the right combination depends on the facts rather than a fixed category.
Questions in these cases tend to be practical. Who was allowed to be alone with children? Were there policies about one-on-one contact, and were they enforced? Did anyone raise a concern about the adult involved? What happened to that concern?
Private and Public Institutions
Most institutions involved in childhood abuse cases are private, such as churches, private schools, sports clubs and youth organizations. For them, Illinois Tort Immunity rules that apply to public bodies do not operate in the same way, so the liability questions are the ordinary institutional ones.
When the institution is public, such as a school district, county detention center or state youth facility, the Tort Immunity Act would ordinarily impose a much shorter filing period. Childhood sexual abuse is the exception: the specific provision at 735 ILCS 5/13-202.2 governs over that general rule.
How Long Survivors Have
Under 735 ILCS 5/13-202.2(f), an action for damages based on childhood sexual abuse may be commenced at any time, as long as it was not already time-barred before the amendment took effect. Under the earlier version, the clock did not begin until the survivor turned 18, and the period ran 20 years from then or 20 years from discovering both the abuse and that it caused the survivor's injury. Whether a claim remains open depends on the dates and the facts, so it should be checked rather than assumed.
Criminal Outcomes Do Not Control
A criminal case requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt and is brought by the State against an individual. A civil claim is brought by the survivor, usually against the institution, and uses a more-likely-than-not standard. Whether or not anyone was charged, the civil question about the institution remains.
Concerns Survivors Raise
I didn't tell anyone back then. Most people never did. A civil claim needs no police report, charge or conviction, and the absence of a report is not treated as evidence that nothing happened.
This happened when I was very young. Long delays are the norm in these cases. Your age at the time, who was responsible and the particular facts govern what is possible.
What will it cost? Nothing up front. These cases are handled on contingency, so there is no fee without a recovery.
Will people find out? Steps can be taken to protect your identity in the court record.
What Contact With Us Involves
A phone call is simply a conversation. The person who answers will not ask you to describe what happened. If you would like us to look further, we investigate at no cost which institution had a duty to you, what it knew, which records survive and whether a claim can still be filed. We tell you straightforwardly what we find, and the decision rests with you. Declining keeps everything confidential and ends our involvement. Going forward means our firm manages filings, deadlines, records and the institution's insurers, with options to protect your identity.
Contact the Firm
Coplan + Crane's office is at 60 W Randolph St, Suite 333, Chicago, IL 60601, and its line, (708) 671-6858, is answered at every hour. Partner Ervin Nevitt has been licensed to practice in Illinois since 2014.
For emotional support separate from any legal decision, RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline is free and confidential at 1-800-656-4673, day and night. If anyone is in immediate danger, call 911. Contacting RAINN has no bearing on your legal rights.
Attorney advertising. Please read this as general background rather than legal advice.
