Child Sexual Abuse Laws in Illinois

Predatory criminal sexual assault of a child (a person 17 or older having sexual contact or penetration with a child under 13) is a Class X felony with 6 to 60 years; being armed with a firearm adds 15 years and discharging one adds 20 years, causing life-threatening or permanently disabling great bodily harm brings 50 years to natural life for an adult, and an adult convicted of offenses against 2 or more children receives natural life. Sexual penetration by someone under 17 with a child under 9 (or 9 to 12 by force) is aggravated criminal sexual assault, a Class X felony. Sexual touching of a child under 13 by someone 17 or older, of a 13- to 16-year-old by force, or of a child under 18 by a family member is aggravated criminal sexual abuse, a Class 2 felony (3 to 7 years); it is a Class 1 felony (4 to 15 years) when someone 17 or older in a position of trust, authority or supervision touches a victim under 18. Sexual penetration by a family member of a victim under 18 is criminal sexual assault, a Class 1 felony.

Illinois's rule on court-appointed lawyers: Under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 401(a), an indigent defendant has the right to appointed counsel whenever the charge is punishable by imprisonment. The trial judge appoints the county Office of the Public Defender, which assigns the individual assistant public defender. Whether a person is indigent is left to the trial court's discretion based on as complete a financial picture as possible; a person need not be entirely without funds to be found indigent, and a court may not refuse appointment solely because the defendant posted bail. The Office of the State Appellate Defender handles appeals for indigent defendants. Ill. S. Ct. R. 401(a); People v. Campbell, 224 Ill. 2d 80 (2007); Burnette v. Terrell, 232 Ill. 2d 522 (2009); People v. Ellis, 309 Ill. App. 3d 443 (1999); People ex rel. Baker v. Power, 60 Ill. 2d 151 (1975)

Lawyers set their own fees, and Illinois has rules on how they may charge. See hiring a criminal defense lawyer in Illinois for fee rules, how to check a lawyer's license and free help.

How release before trial works in Illinois: Illinois abolished cash (monetary) bail under the Pretrial Fairness Act (part of the SAFE-T Act); cash bail ended in Illinois courts on September 18, 2023, after the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the law in Rowe v. Raoul, 2023 IL 129248. The default is pretrial release on personal recognizance, with conditions. The State may seek detention only in specified cases by filing a petition; at the first detention hearing the State must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the proof is evident or the presumption great that the defendant committed a detainable offense, that the defendant poses a real and present threat to any person or the community or a high likelihood of willful flight, and that no conditions could mitigate that threat or risk. The court must revisit continued detention at later hearings. 725 ILCS 5/110-6.1 (P.A. 101-652, 102-1104); Rowe v. Raoul, 2023 IL 129248 What happens after an arrest.

Each state sets its own rules for sealing or expunging records. See Illinois expungement and record sealing rules.