By WJBC Staff

SPRINGFIELD – Legislation in the Illinois Senate would give child sex abuse victims more time to report the crime.

The measure eliminates the statute of limitations for prosecuting felony sex crimes against children. Attorney General Lisa Madigan is a lead proponent of the bill, saying it can take child abuse victims several years to come forward.

“We should never be in a position where a police officer or a prosecutor tells an adult who survived a childhood sexual assault and who has courageously come forward there is no possibility of holding the offender accountable,” Madigan said.

Scott Cross, who said he was an abuse victim of former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, said it should offend everyone’s faith in the judicial system that Illinois laws today would still allow child molestors to avoid prosecution for heinous acts of sexual abuse because the survivor did not come forward in time.

“It took me 36-plus years to come forward,” Cross said. “On average, someone is 42 years old before they are able to deal with this.”

Madigan said it’s estimated nationally that 25 percent of girls and 16 percent of boys are sexually assaulted or abused before they turn 18.