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1 | AN ACT concerning education.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Sections | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | 10-20.83 and 34-18.78 and by changing Section 22-85.5 as | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
6 | follows: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
7 | (105 ILCS 5/10-20.83 new) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
8 | Sec. 10-20.83. Notice of sex offense charge against an | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | employee. Within 7 days after receiving information that a | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
10 | school employee is charged with a sex offense, as defined | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | under the Sex Offender Registration Act, the school board | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 | shall notify, in writing, the parents or guardians of the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | school's students. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | (105 ILCS 5/22-85.5) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | Sec. 22-85.5. Sexual misconduct in schools. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
16 | (a) This Section applies beginning on July 1, 2022. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
17 | (b) The General Assembly finds that: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
18 | (1) the success of students in school relies on safe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
19 | learning environments and healthy relationships with | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
20 | school personnel; | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 | (2) it is important for staff to maintain a | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
22 | professional relationship with students at all times and |
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1 | to define staff-student boundaries to protect students | ||||||
2 | from sexual misconduct by staff and staff from the | ||||||
3 | appearance of impropriety; | ||||||
4 | (3) many breaches of staff-student boundaries do not | ||||||
5 | rise to the level of criminal behavior but do pose a | ||||||
6 | potential risk to student safety; | ||||||
7 | (4) repeated violations of staff–student boundaries | ||||||
8 | can indicate the grooming of a student for sexual abuse; | ||||||
9 | (5) it is necessary to uphold the State Board of | ||||||
10 | Education's Code of Ethics for Illinois Educators and for | ||||||
11 | each school district, charter school, or nonpublic school | ||||||
12 | to have an employee code of professional conduct policy; | ||||||
13 | (6) each school district, charter school, or nonpublic | ||||||
14 | school must have the ability to discipline educators for | ||||||
15 | breaches of its employee code of professional conduct | ||||||
16 | policy; | ||||||
17 | (7) each school district, charter school, or nonpublic | ||||||
18 | school must have the ability to know if any of its | ||||||
19 | educators have violated professional staff–student | ||||||
20 | boundaries in previous employment; and | ||||||
21 | (8) as bystanders, educators may have knowledge of | ||||||
22 | concerning behaviors that no one else is aware of, so they | ||||||
23 | need adequate training on sexual abuse, the employee code | ||||||
24 | of professional conduct policy, and federal and State | ||||||
25 | reporting requirements. | ||||||
26 | (c) In this Section : , |
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1 | "School-based employee" means a teacher, a principal, | ||||||
2 | office staff, or any person who works on school grounds. | ||||||
3 | " Sexual sexual misconduct" means any act, including, but | ||||||
4 | not limited to,
any verbal, nonverbal, written, or electronic | ||||||
5 | communication or
physical activity, by an employee or agent of | ||||||
6 | the school district, charter school, or nonpublic school with | ||||||
7 | direct contact with a student that is directed toward or with a | ||||||
8 | student to establish a romantic or sexual relationship with | ||||||
9 | the student. Such an act includes, but is not limited to, any | ||||||
10 | of the following: | ||||||
11 | (1) A sexual or romantic invitation. | ||||||
12 | (2) Dating or soliciting a date. | ||||||
13 | (3) Engaging in sexualized or romantic dialog. | ||||||
14 | (4) Making sexually suggestive comments that are | ||||||
15 | directed toward or with a student. | ||||||
16 | (5) Self-disclosure or physical exposure of a sexual, | ||||||
17 | romantic, or erotic nature. | ||||||
18 | (6) A sexual, indecent, romantic, or erotic contact | ||||||
19 | with the student. | ||||||
20 | (d) To prevent sexual misconduct with students, each | ||||||
21 | school district, charter school, or nonpublic school shall | ||||||
22 | develop an employee code of professional conduct policy that | ||||||
23 | addresses all of the following: | ||||||
24 | (1) Incorporates the Code of Ethics for Illinois | ||||||
25 | Educators. | ||||||
26 | (2) Incorporates the definition of "sexual misconduct" |
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1 | in this Section. | ||||||
2 | (3) Identifies the expectations for employees and | ||||||
3 | agents of the school district, charter school, or | ||||||
4 | nonpublic school regarding how to maintain a professional | ||||||
5 | relationship with students, including the expectations for | ||||||
6 | staff-student boundaries, recognizing the age and | ||||||
7 | developmental level of the students served, and | ||||||
8 | establishes guidelines for all of the following | ||||||
9 | situations: | ||||||
10 | (A) Transporting a student. | ||||||
11 | (B) Taking or possessing a photo or a video of a | ||||||
12 | student. | ||||||
13 | (C) Meeting with a student or contacting a student | ||||||
14 | outside of the employee's or agent's professional | ||||||
15 | role. | ||||||
16 | (4) References the employee reporting requirements | ||||||
17 | required under the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting | ||||||
18 | Act and under Title IX of the federal Education Amendments | ||||||
19 | of 1972. | ||||||
20 | (5) References required employee training that is | ||||||
21 | related to child abuse and educator ethics that are | ||||||
22 | applicable under State and federal law. | ||||||
23 | (e) The employee code of professional conduct policy must | ||||||
24 | be posted on the website, if any, of each school district, | ||||||
25 | charter school, or nonpublic school and must be included in | ||||||
26 | any staff, student, or parent handbook provided by the school |
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1 | district, charter school, or nonpublic, nonsectarian | ||||||
2 | elementary or secondary school. | ||||||
3 | (f) A violation of the employee code of professional | ||||||
4 | conduct policy may subject an employee to disciplinary action | ||||||
5 | up to and including dismissal from employment. Failure to | ||||||
6 | report a violation of the employee code of professional | ||||||
7 | conduct policy may subject an employee to disciplinary action | ||||||
8 | up to and including dismissal from employment.
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9 | (g) A school district, charter school, or nonpublic school | ||||||
10 | shall begin an investigation upon any indication of a sexual | ||||||
11 | relationship between a student and a school-based employee. | ||||||
12 | The investigation may be made by internal district or school | ||||||
13 | staff and law enforcement personnel. If at any point during or | ||||||
14 | after the investigation it is determined that the school-based | ||||||
15 | employee had a sexual relationship with a student, then the | ||||||
16 | school-based employee may be terminated. | ||||||
17 | (Source: P.A. 102-676, eff. 12-3-21.) | ||||||
18 | (105 ILCS 5/34-18.78 new) | ||||||
19 | Sec. 34-18.78. Notice of sex offense charge against an | ||||||
20 | employee. Within 7 days after receiving information that a | ||||||
21 | school employee is charged with a sex offense, as defined | ||||||
22 | under the Sex Offender Registration Act, the board shall | ||||||
23 | notify, in writing, the parents or guardians of the school's | ||||||
24 | students. |
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1 | Section 10. The Criminal Code of 2012 is amended by | ||||||
2 | changing Section 11-1.20 as follows:
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3 | (720 ILCS 5/11-1.20) (was 720 ILCS 5/12-13)
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4 | Sec. 11-1.20. Criminal sexual assault.
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5 | (a) A person commits criminal sexual assault if that | ||||||
6 | person commits an act of sexual penetration and: | ||||||
7 | (1) uses force or threat of force; | ||||||
8 | (2) knows that the victim is unable to understand the | ||||||
9 | nature of the act or is unable to give knowing consent; | ||||||
10 | (3) is a family member of the victim, and the victim is | ||||||
11 | under 18 years of age; or | ||||||
12 | (4) is 17 years of age or over and holds a position of | ||||||
13 | trust, authority, or supervision in relation to the | ||||||
14 | victim, and the victim is at least 13 years of age but | ||||||
15 | under 18 years of age ; or .
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16 | (5) is a school-based employee, as defined in Section | ||||||
17 | 22-85.5 of the School Code, and the victim is a student. | ||||||
18 | (b) Sentence.
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19 | (1) Criminal sexual assault is a Class 1 felony, | ||||||
20 | except that:
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21 | (A) A person who is convicted of the offense of | ||||||
22 | criminal sexual assault as
defined in paragraph (a)(1) | ||||||
23 | or (a)(2) after having previously been convicted of
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24 | the offense of criminal sexual assault or the offense | ||||||
25 | of exploitation of a child, or who is convicted of the |
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1 | offense of
criminal sexual assault as defined in | ||||||
2 | paragraph (a)(1) or (a)(2) after having
previously | ||||||
3 | been convicted under the laws of this State or any | ||||||
4 | other state of an
offense that is substantially | ||||||
5 | equivalent to the offense of criminal sexual
assault | ||||||
6 | or to the offense of exploitation of a child, commits a | ||||||
7 | Class X felony for which the person shall be sentenced | ||||||
8 | to a
term of imprisonment of not less than 30 years and | ||||||
9 | not more than 60 years, except that if the person is | ||||||
10 | under the age of 18 years at the time of the offense, | ||||||
11 | he or she shall be sentenced under Section 5-4.5-105 | ||||||
12 | of the Unified Code of Corrections. The
commission of | ||||||
13 | the second or subsequent offense is required to have | ||||||
14 | been after
the initial conviction for this paragraph | ||||||
15 | (A) to apply.
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16 | (B) A person who has attained the age of 18 years | ||||||
17 | at the time of the commission of the offense and who is | ||||||
18 | convicted of the offense of criminal sexual assault as
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19 | defined in paragraph (a)(1) or (a)(2) after having | ||||||
20 | previously been convicted of
the offense of aggravated | ||||||
21 | criminal sexual assault or the offense of predatory
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22 | criminal sexual assault of a child, or who is | ||||||
23 | convicted of the offense of
criminal sexual assault as | ||||||
24 | defined in paragraph (a)(1) or (a)(2) after having
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25 | previously been convicted under the laws of this State | ||||||
26 | or any other state of an
offense that is substantially |
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1 | equivalent to the offense of aggravated criminal
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2 | sexual assault or the offense of predatory criminal | ||||||
3 | sexual assault of a child shall be
sentenced to a term | ||||||
4 | of natural life imprisonment. The commission of the | ||||||
5 | second
or subsequent offense is required to have been | ||||||
6 | after the initial conviction for
this paragraph (B) to | ||||||
7 | apply. An offender under the age of 18 years at the | ||||||
8 | time of the commission of the offense covered by this | ||||||
9 | subparagraph (B) shall be sentenced under Section | ||||||
10 | 5-4.5-105 of the Unified Code of Corrections.
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11 | (C) A second or subsequent conviction for a | ||||||
12 | violation of paragraph
(a)(3) or (a)(4) or under any | ||||||
13 | similar statute of this State
or any other state for | ||||||
14 | any offense involving criminal sexual assault that is
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15 | substantially equivalent to or more serious than the | ||||||
16 | sexual assault prohibited
under paragraph (a)(3) or | ||||||
17 | (a)(4) is a Class X felony.
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18 | (Source: P.A. 99-69, eff. 1-1-16 .)
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19 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
20 | becoming law, except that Section 10 takes effect on January | ||||||
21 | 1, 2023.
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