My child was sexually abused by a teacher or school employee in Illinois. What can we do?

Who do I report to first?

Call the DCFS Child Abuse Hotline at 800-25-ABUSE (800-252-2873). It is staffed 24 hours. Then call the police. In an emergency, call 911.

Every school employee is a mandated reporter. A teacher, an aide or an administrator who has reasonable cause to believe a child is being abused has to report it to DCFS immediately. Telling the principal doesn't satisfy that duty, and no administrator is allowed to control or change a report (325 ILCS 5/4(a), (e)). So if a staff member tells you the principal was informed, ask who called DCFS and on what date.

Try not to question your child in detail. Investigators will usually arrange an interview with someone trained to talk with children, and repeated questioning at home can complicate that.

Is the school district responsible, or only the employee?

The employee is responsible for what he did. The district is not automatically responsible for him. Illinois courts treat sexual assault as outside the scope of a job as a matter of law, so a district isn't liable simply because it employed him (Deloney v. Board of Education of Thornton Township, 281 Ill. App. 3d 775 (Ill. App. Ct. 1996)).

The district answers for its own conduct. What it knew. When it knew. What it did next. In one case, administrators allegedly knew a teacher had abused students, let him leave quietly, and then gave his next district an employment form stating he had worked the full school year. Students at the new school later sued over abuse by the same teacher. The Illinois Supreme Court held that, on those allegations, the first district owed them a duty of care (Doe-3 v. McLean County Unit District No. 5 Board of Directors, 2012 IL 112479).

Doesn't a public school have immunity?

In part. Under the Tort Immunity Act, a district is liable for a failure of supervision only if its conduct was willful and wanton (745 ILCS 10/3-108). The Act defines that as a deliberate intention to cause harm, or an utter indifference to or conscious disregard for the safety of others (745 ILCS 10/1-210).

In practice that makes it a question about notice. Earlier complaints about the same employee. A report that sat on someone's desk. A decision to leave him alone with students after a warning. A district that had none of those is hard to reach. A district that had them and did nothing is the case these laws allow.

What does Title IX add?

A federal claim. A school district that takes federal money can be liable in damages for an employee's sexual abuse of a student when an official with authority to take corrective action actually knew of it and responded with deliberate indifference. What the district should have known is not enough, and the abuser's own knowledge doesn't count (Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District, 524 U.S. 274 (1998)).

Title IX also gives you something to ask for now. A school that knows of sexual harassment must respond promptly, and its Title IX coordinator must contact you to discuss supportive measures and consider your wishes, whether or not you file a formal complaint (34 C.F.R. § 106.44(a)).

For that duty, telling any teacher, aide or other employee counts as telling the school (34 C.F.R. § 106.30(a)). A lawsuit for money is harder. It still requires an official with authority to act who knew and responded with deliberate indifference (Gebser, 524 U.S. 274). Keep the two standards apart when you read what the district sends you.

Is there a claim under the Gender Violence Act?

Possibly, and it is new. Since 2024 that Act has made an employer liable for gender-related violence committed in the workplace by its employee when the employer failed to supervise, train or monitor him, or ignored reports of similar conduct (740 ILCS 82/11). The Act borrows its definition of employer from the Illinois Human Rights Act (740 ILCS 82/5), and that definition includes political subdivisions and other governmental units (775 ILCS 5/2-101(B)(1)(c)).

An appellate court applied the employer section in 2026 to a treatment facility whose employee assaulted a patient (Jane Doe J.P. v. TK Behavioral, LLC, 2026 IL App (1st) 251028). Whether courts will apply it to a school district, and how it fits with the Tort Immunity Act, has not been settled. A claim against the employer under that section has to be filed within four years, and for a minor the four years run from the eighteenth birthday (740 ILCS 82/20).

How long do we have?

An action for damages based on childhood sexual abuse may be brought at any time (735 ILCS 5/13-202.2(f)). The exception is for older claims that had already expired before the legislature lifted the deadline.

That rule applies to a school district as well. Claims against local governments ordinarily have to be filed within one year (745 ILCS 10/8-101(a)). But an appellate court held that the abuse statute controls over that one-year rule, including for claims that a district failed to protect the child (Doe v. Hinsdale Township High School District 86, 388 Ill. App. 3d 995 (Ill. App. Ct. 2009)).

Federal claims borrow their deadlines from other law and can be much shorter. Have a lawyer calendar them. And no deadline does not mean no hurry. Hallway video gets recorded over. Staff leave. Messages get deleted.

The school wants my child back in the building. What can I ask for?

Put it in writing to the district's Title IX coordinator. Ask for supportive measures and say which ones: no contact with the employee, a schedule or classroom change, counseling, a different placement. The coordinator has to discuss them with you and take your wishes into account (34 C.F.R. § 106.44(a)). If your child has an IEP, ask in writing for an IEP meeting too.

What should we do this week?

• Make the DCFS and police reports and write down the report numbers.
• Keep your child's phone and accounts exactly as they are. Don't delete messages, and don't confront the employee.
• Write a timeline of who at the school was told what, and on what date.
• Send the district a written request to preserve video, emails and the employee's personnel records. Ask in writing for your child's records.
• Get your child seen by a pediatrician or a therapist who works with children.
• Don't sign anything from the district or its insurer until a lawyer has read it.

Working with GB Law

GB Law starts with the facts and tells you which claims you have. Where a claim belongs with a trial firm or another attorney we work with, we make the introduction and you know who is handling what.

Questions people ask

Does the employee have to be charged or convicted first?

No. A civil claim doesn't depend on criminal charges, and it can go forward whether or not anyone is prosecuted.

A teacher told the principal months ago and nothing happened. Does that matter?

It may be the most important fact in the case. It goes to whether the mandated report was made (325 ILCS 5/4(e)), whether the district consciously disregarded a known risk (745 ILCS 10/1-210), and whether an official with authority to act had actual knowledge under Title IX (Gebser, 524 U.S. 274).

Is a private or religious school different?

Yes. The Tort Immunity Act protects local public entities, so a private school can't rely on it. Title IX reaches a private school only if it takes federal money. The filing rule for childhood sexual abuse is the same.

What if this happened years ago and I'm an adult now?

You may still have a claim. The answer depends on the dates. See "How long do you have to file a childhood sexual abuse claim in Illinois?"