(708) 671-6858

Peoria Sexual Abuse Lawyer: The Seat of the Diocese of Peoria

Civil claims for survivors in Peoria and across Peoria County, Illinois. You do not need a police report or a conviction.

Free, confidential case review Call (708) 671-6858
  • Free
  • Confidential
  • No police report required
  • No conviction required

It is very often not too late, and you do not need to have reported it. What governs a claim is your age at the time, who was responsible and the facts, not whether anyone believed you then. Asking costs nothing and commits you to nothing.

Ervin Nevitt, Esq., sexual abuse lawyer and partner at Coplan + Crane.
Ervin Nevitt · Partner, Coplan + Crane
Illinois bar registration 6319808 · admitted 2014

Bringing a claim in Peoria

Survivors in Peoria regularly assume too much time has passed, or that nothing can be done without a police report. Neither is usually true.

Peoria sits in Peoria County, Illinois. Most civil claims are filed in the circuit court of Peoria County (the 10th Judicial Circuit); claims against the State go to the Illinois Court of Claims.

The institutions that come up here

Peoria County falls under the Diocese of Peoria. The Illinois Attorney General’s 2023 report named 51 clerics with substantiated child sexual abuse claims in the Diocese of Peoria.

Schools and public bodies here

Peoria Public Schools District 150 serves most of the city; the outer northern portions of Peoria are in Dunlap District 323. Peoria is also the seat of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria, which the Illinois Attorney General’s report named directly.

Where the responsible body is a school district, a county, or the state, the Illinois Tort
Immunity Act comes into the analysis, along with notice requirements that do not apply to a
private organisation. It is the first thing to check and it is easy to get wrong.

Support in Peoria, whether or not you ever call a lawyer

Center for Prevention of Abuse: 24-hour hotline 309-691-4111. Peoria. Also 800-559-SAFE.

You do not have to speak to a lawyer to get help. RAINN is also on
1-800-656-4673, free and confidential, 24 hours.

Questions people in Peoria ask

Will anyone here find out?

Not from us. The first conversation is confidential whether or not you go ahead, and if you bring a claim, steps can be taken to protect your identity in the court record.

What does it cost?

Nothing up front. These cases are taken on a contingency fee, so the fee is a share of any recovery and there is no fee if there is no recovery.

The person who did it has died.

A claim can still proceed. These cases are usually brought against the institution that placed that person in a position of trust, not against the individual.

You can call from Peoria at any hour. The line is answered around the clock and the first conversation costs nothing.

What actually happens if you contact us

Nothing is set in motion by asking a question.

  1. You speak to a person

    Not a form, not an intake script. You do not have to describe what happened in order to have the conversation.

  2. We look into who had a duty

    Which institution was responsible, what it knew, what records exist, and whether a claim can still be brought. That work costs you nothing.

  3. You decide

    We tell you plainly what is possible. If you decide not to go ahead, that is the end of it and what you told us stays confidential.

  4. If you go ahead, we carry it

    Filings, deadlines, records and the institution's insurers. Steps can be taken to protect your identity in the court record.

Free, confidential case review Or call (708) 671-6858
Call (708) 671-6858 Free case review