What the statute says
The governing provision is 735 ILCS 5/13-202.2. Its subsection (f) provides
that an action for damages based on childhood sexual abuse may be commenced at any
time. Illinois is among the states that removed the civil limitation period for this
category of claim.
The qualification
The removal applies to actions commenced on or after the effective date of the amendment,
provided the action would not already have been time-barred before that date.
That proviso is the whole game. “No time limit” is accurate looking forward; it does not
automatically revive a claim that had already expired under the older rule.
Whether a particular claim falls on one side of that line or the other depends on when the abuse
happened, when the person turned 18, and how the earlier discovery rule applied to them. It is not
something a web page can work out.
The discovery rule that applied before
The earlier rules changed several times. From 2011, the period ran for 20 years from when it began under subsection (d), or 20 years from when the person discovered both… Before 2011 the periods were shorter, so which version applied depends on when the abuse happened and when the person turned 18.
The clock did not begin until the person turned 18, or until another legal disability was removed.
If the defendant is a public body
Claims against school districts and counties normally run under the Illinois Tort Immunity Act, which sets a much shorter period than applies to private defendants. Childhood sexual abuse is the exception. The specific provision at 735 ILCS 5/13-202.2 governs over that general rule, so the short Tort Immunity period does not bar a childhood sexual abuse claim against a school district or county.
Claims against the State itself, including state youth centres, DCFS placements and public universities, are brought in the Illinois Court of Claims, which has its own filing rules. Those claims need their own timing analysis.
This page describes Illinois law in general terms. It is not legal advice and it cannot tell you whether your own claim is in time, that depends on facts this page does not know. A conversation costs nothing and will give you a real answer.