Illinois Attorney General Wants To Remove Statute Of Limitations On Child Sex Crimes

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan testified in support of Senate Bill 189.  It would eliminate the statute of limitations for child abuse and assault crimes. 

She cited the case of former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, who was convicted in a hush-money scheme related to several boys he admitted to molesting while a high school wrestling coach.   Madigan said Hastert inflicted "unbelievable pain" on the youth he molested at the school, and only got a "slap on the wrist."  

She also said it can take abuse victims several years to come forward.  

"We should never be in a position where a police officer or prosecutor tells an adult who survived a childhood sexual assault, and has courageously come forward, that there is no possibility of holding the offender accountable."

Madigan says nationally, 25% of girls and 16% of boys are sexually assaulted or abused before they turn 18.