Before anything else: if this subject is bringing up more than you can carry right now, RAINN's National Sexual Assault Hotline is there at 1-800-656-4673, free and confidential, at every hour. If you or anyone else is in immediate danger, call 911. A hotline conversation stays separate from any legal matter, and it creates nothing you would ever have to hand to a lawyer.
Many adults who were sexually abused as children have thought about taking legal action, then stopped short because of practical worries. How much will it cost? Will I have to tell my story to strangers? Will my name end up in the news? Will my family find out? Those questions deserve straight answers. Here they are.
You Do Not Need a Police Report or a Conviction
A civil claim stands apart from the criminal system. It does not require a report to police, a charge or a conviction. Most of the people who contact our office never reported, and in many institutional settings, reporting as a child would have meant telling the abuser's own coworkers. A civil claim uses a lower standard of proof, more likely than not, and is usually brought against the institution rather than the individual.
What It Costs
Nothing up front. These cases are taken on a contingency fee, which means there is no fee if there is no recovery. The initial work of looking into your situation also costs you nothing.
Who the Claim Is Against
The usual defendant is whichever institution had care of the child: a school, church, youth program, camp, care provider or public facility. Negligent supervision is the theory that most often carries these claims, with other theories joining it as the facts allow. Where the institution is private, the Illinois Tort Immunity rules for public bodies do not apply in the same way. Where it is public, the childhood abuse statute governs over the usual short Tort Immunity deadline.
Timing in Plain Terms
Under 735 ILCS 5/13-202.2(f), an action for damages based on childhood sexual abuse may be commenced at any time, provided the claim was not already time-barred before the amendment took effect. Under the earlier rule, the clock started at 18 and ran 20 years, or 20 years from discovering both the abuse and the injury it caused. What applies to you depends on your age at the time, who was responsible and the specific facts. Long delays are the norm in this work, not a reason to stay silent.
How Your Privacy Is Protected
Nothing you tell us is shared with anyone else. If you decide not to go ahead, what you said stays confidential. If you do go ahead, steps can be taken to protect your identity in the court record, and we explain those options before anything is filed.
You Will Not Have to Retell Everything to Start
Many survivors dread the first call because they assume it means describing the abuse in detail. It does not. You can talk with a person about your options without walking through what happened. Some people share more over time. Others share very little. Either way, the work of building a claim focuses heavily on what the institution knew and did.
If a Family Member Is Calling
Spouses, siblings and adult children sometimes reach out first. That is welcome, and it does not obligate the survivor to anything.
Optional Things to Think About Before You Call
None of this is required, and you can skip it entirely. Some survivors find it steadying to jot down a few basics first: roughly how old they were, the name of the school, parish, team, camp or program involved, the years they were connected to it and whether any adult there was told at the time. If you still have old yearbooks, team photos, report cards or letters, they can help anchor dates when memory is uncertain. It can also help to note whether you have heard of anyone else who had a similar experience with the same person or organization. Bring as much or as little of this as feels manageable. The point of a first conversation is to give you information, not to test what you remember, and many survivors start with nothing written down at all.
The Path From First Call to Decision
After you call, and only if you want us to, our team looks into which institution had a duty to you, what it knew, which records still exist and whether a claim can be brought. We do that at no cost. We then tell you plainly what is possible, without pressure. The choice to continue is entirely yours. If you go forward, we carry the case: filings, deadlines, records and negotiations with the institution's insurers, along with requests to protect your identity.
Quick Answers
Is it too late if it happened in the 1980s or 1990s? Not necessarily. Whether the claim is open depends on how the earlier rules applied to you.
The abuser has died. A claim can still proceed against the institution that put that person in a position of trust.
I'm worried about being judged for waiting. A child could not consent, could not leave and usually could not report safely. Waiting is the most common experience among survivors.
Reach Coplan + Crane
The firm's line, (708) 671-6858, is answered every hour of every day. Ervin Nevitt, a partner at Coplan + Crane, was admitted to the Illinois bar in 2014. The office is at 60 W Randolph St, Suite 333, Chicago, IL 60601. Learn more: https://survivorsofabuseil.com/child-sexual-abuse-lawyer-il/
Attorney advertising. This guide is general and does not constitute legal advice for any individual situation.
