Bringing a claim in Springfield
If you were sexually abused in Springfield, whether recently or decades ago, you can bring a civil claim against the institution that failed to protect you.
Springfield sits in Sangamon County, Illinois, and a civil claim is filed in 7th Judicial Circuit.
The institutions that come up here
Sangamon County falls under the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. The Illinois Attorney General’s 2023 report named 32 clerics with substantiated child sexual abuse claims in the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois.
Schools and public bodies here
Springfield Public Schools District 186 covers the city. As the state capital, Springfield also hosts state agencies, including the Department of Children and Family Services, whose headquarters is here.
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 Springfield, whether or not you ever call a lawyer
Prairie Center Against Sexual Assault: 24-hour hotline 217-753-8081. Springfield.
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 Springfield ask
I never went to the police.
Most people we speak to never did. A civil claim needs no report, charge or conviction, and the absence of one is not treated as evidence that nothing happened.
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.
I am asking for someone else.
That is fine, and it happens often. We can explain how this works so you can pass it on, with no obligation on them to do anything.
If you would rather not call, the case review form takes about a minute and asks nothing about the abuse itself.