Illinois Lacks Statute of Limitations for Certain Sex Offenses
A recent NBC News data project detailed generally how long prosecutors in each state have to bring the most serious sexual assault charges, with wide variations state to state. Other than federal criminal offenses that are prosecuted under the United States Code by the federal government, state criminal laws are specific to individual states, meaning the ability for prosecutors to bring charges and prosecute individuals will be controlled by state and sometimes local law, with some states having short windows of time to commence a prosecution, usually referred to as the statute of limitations. There are often exceptions to the general limitation period and extended time frames for more serious allegations. Some states like Illinois have eliminated these time limitations for the most serious sexual crimes. This is in stark contrast to states like Ohio, where in one recent case, a victim of sexual assault learned of a suspect through newly discovered DNA evidence 34 years after the alleged assault, but the state was unable to bring charges because at the time Ohio had a six-year limitation period to bring charges. In effect, this means that even if the assailant admitted their guilt to investigators, there would not be anything law enforcement could do to that individual and it is because of outrage over instances like the one in Ohio that has seen many states eliminate such limitations in recent years through amendments of the governing law. This is not unique to just sex crimes, as virtually all criminal charges outside of murder used to have statutes of limitations (and some still do for good reasons).
What are the statute of limitations?
The statute of limitations for a criminal offense is effectively a deadline for prosecutors, meaning if they fail to bring charges in a proscribed timeline, they lose the ability to prosecute that individual, no matter their level of guilt or what evidence the state may have or eventually obtain. For less serious crimes, those timelines are normally shorter. For example, in Illinois the statute of limitations for theft is 18 months for misdemeanors and 3 years for felony theft. This is for the benefit of defendants, as extensive delays in bringing charges would generally be unhelpful as time passes and evidence decays or is lost. For example, in theft cases, surveillance footage or other business records can be lost or overwritten, making a defense harder for someone accused of committing a crime. The older the allegation, the harder it becomes for an accused person to reconstruct where they were and what really happened. Before 2020, Illinois generally gave prosecutors ten years to charge an adult sexual assault, but only if the victim reported the offense within three years, but in 2019 Governor Pritzker signed a bill eliminating that time limitation for felony sex crimes. Still, even with this change, there are practical concerns for prosecuting crimes many years after the fact, where memories fade over time and physical evidence is lost, and prosecutors may be generally hesitant on a case-by-case basis for bringing charges against someone well after the fact. An experienced criminal defense attorney can help individuals facing potential charges based on dated conduct navigate the criminal justice system and, in some cases, convince prosecutors not to bring charges at all. If you or someone you know is facing allegations that a sex-related crime was committed, consult with a criminal defense attorney who has successfully handled those types of cases before.
