CHICAGO – An Illinois law designed to ensure victims of sexual assault receive proper care inside hospitals also includes carve out that allows patients to be transferred if hospitals can’t provide services like rape kit exams, but it can have unintended consequences.
Advocates argue this can disrupt the chain of custody for things like evidence collection and creates a chilling effect where victims may decide to not to travel further to get a rape exam.
“That now means a survivor has to go that much further, that’s where we see the real-life impact on a survivor,” said Carrie Ward with the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
An NBC 5 Investigates’ review of 185 Illinois hospital inspection reports filed by the Illinois Department of Public Health between 2018 and 2024 found hospitals across the state have failed to properly treat victims through a series of missteps – from poor record-keeping to more serious violations like failing to contact police and turnover rape kits – some which we found sat on the shelves for years.
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While Illinois law requires that hospitals offer treatment, there’s no real consequence for those that don’t.
NBC 5 Investigates could find only one hospital – Weiss Memorial in Chicago – that had been fined over the past six years and that was only after its previous plans of correction were rejected by the state. The hospital had been found in violation for failing to have adequate staff and supplies and failing to offer forensic exams.
All told, our investigation found 88 Illinois hospitals over a period of six years failed to properly treat victims of sexual assault, though that figure could be an undercount given that hospital inspectors only looked at a sampling of patient records during inspections.
The state law known as the Illinois Sexual Assault Survivors Emergency Treatment Act – or SASETA – requires that hospital offer services to rape victims – including offering rape kit exams, contacting police, providing information on STD and drug testing and other services like access to a shower free of charge and sexual assault counselors.
But our months-long investigation found time again – that didn’t happen.
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And of the 85 hospitals we found with transfer agreements, more than half send patients between 40 to 80 miles away.
When 62-year old Cheryl Thompson went to Union County Hospital on New Year’s Day to report she’d be sexually assaulted, she says the ER physician told her she was “too fat and too tall” to have been assaulted. In her statement to Illinois State Police, Thompson said the doctor was dismissive of her claims. She filed a complaint with the IDPH.
Months later inspectors found the hospital had collected her urine and blood to test it for a date rape drug, but failed to contact police.
Traumatized by her experience, Thompson says she waited eight days to go to another hospital even though Union County Hospital had offered her a referral to another hospital in Mount Vernon – more than 70 miles away.
“I basically blame that hospital because I have no DNA,” she said.
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In a recent interview, State Rep. Kelly Cassidy told NBC 5 Investigates that she’d like change state law to rein in how far victims are forced to travel.
“I think a lot needs to change. I think we need real accountability measures. I don’t think it’s acceptable anymore to allow hospitals to violate these laws with impunity. Trying to be partners and working together has worked.”
The Illinois Health and Hospital Association blamed the problems on changes to the law in 2018 noting that it created “challenges … hindering optimal access to care for survivors…” according to a statement sent to NBC 5 Investigates.
Specifically, the IHA referenced the challenge in hiring sexual assault nurse examiners and said it is working with the hospital community and other state agencies to “identify statutory or regulatory changes” that “may further ensure survivors are treated in a timely manner.”
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Will Riley scored his 19 points in the second half and No. 25 Illinois beat Maryland Eastern Shore 87-40 on Saturday.
Kylan Boswell added 13 points, Tomislav Ivisic had 11 and Morez Johnson Jr. finished with 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Illini (4-1), who shot 25% (10 for 40) from 3-point range but committed just nine turnovers.
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Tre White grabbed 11 rebounds and Kasparas Jakucionis seven for Illinois, which outrebounded the Hawks 59-38.
Jalen Ware scored 10 points and Christopher Flippin had 10 rebounds for Maryland Eastern Shore (2-6), which had its lowest point total of the season. The team’s previous low came in 102-63 loss to Vanderbilt on Nov. 4.
Illinois is unbeaten in four home games. Maryland Eastern Shore is winless in six road games.
Takeaways
Illinois: Coming off a 100-87 loss Wednesday to No. 8 Alabama, the Illini had no trouble dominating the overmatched Hawks. They led 35-15 at halftime and extended the lead to as many as 52 points in the second half.
Maryland Eastern Shore: The Hawks couldn’t match Illinois’ height and depth and were slowed by 15 turnovers.
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Key moment
After struggling at the start of the game, the Illini went on a 17-0 run over a seven-minute stretch to move in front 25-8 with 5:15 to go in the first half.
Key stat
Maryland Eastern Shore struggled from the field, shooting 22% (15 for 68), including 5 for 20 on 3-pointers.
Up next
Illinois hosts Little Rock on Monday. Maryland Eastern Shore plays at No. 20 Arkansas on Monday.
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The women’s Illinois basketball team continued to impress on Friday night with another big win.
Coming into the game, the Illini were 4-0 and had already beaten a top-25 program in Florida State and a good team in Marquette. We were on top of the world.
It would be understandable for a letdown game to happen. Illinois didn’t let it happen, though. We came out of the gates firing, and Oregon State didn’t have answers.
Illinois played well in both halves. We took a 10-point lead into the halftime locker room and quickly expanded on that lead in the third quarter. By the game’s end, Illinois managed to secure an 85-66 win over Oregon State.
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Coming into the game on Friday night, Illinois has been able to hold their own when it comes to the rebounding department. But this wasn’t an easy matchup, as Oregon State is a good rebounding team as well.
Despite Oregon State having some great size, the Illini were tough on the boards. We were able to pull down rebounds at a rate that I was impressed with considering the opposing team had a 6-foot-7 center starting.
Illinois finished the game pulling down 36 rebounds compared to Oregon State’s 34 rebounds. Five of the 36 rebounds were on the offensive glass too, but we didn’t have a ton of opportunities considering the team shot 54.7% from the field.
The thing that impressed me the most about Illinois’ rebounding ability on Friday night was the size differential. Oregon State trotted out a 6-foot-7 center and a 6-foot-5 forward. We limited those two players to just 12 rebounds in 42 minutes of game action.
I think a big part of the great rebounding effort on the part of Illinois is the fact our frontcourt is strong and athletic. It is hard to move Kendall Bostic off her spot, and she does a great job boxing out. The same can be said for Brynn Shoup-Hill. Both players were quicker than anything Oregon State had in the frontcourt too.
Gainesville, Fla., – The No. 21 Florida Gators men’s basketball team cruised to a 93-68 win over Southern Illinois on Friday to stay undefeated in the 2024-25 season. They used a hot night offensively from senior Alijah Martin and Thomas Haugh to help ease to the finish line in this one.
Florida started this game positively compared to their previous outings. They came out the gates easily putting the ball through the net, resulting in an early 9-2 lead over Southern Illinois by the 16-minute mark.
However, things began to unravel over the next five to six minutes of the game. During this span, the Gators shot just 2-for-11 from the field, which allowed their opponents to cut the Gators’ lead to just one point.
Fortunately, they began to find their rhythm and they did it in a very loud way.
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With around eight minutes left in the half until about the last two minutes, the Gators went on a 22-2 run with some crowd-pleasing plays from Martin and Alex Condon along the way. The first one came from a steal by Martin that was dished off to Denzel Aberdeen who then lobbed it to Condon for the easy slam in transition.
Then, on the next possession for Southern Illinois, the Gators came up with another steal that quickly made its way into Martin’s hands for a high-flying slam that got the crowd on its feet.
After this big run, the Gators found themselves leading 41-17 over their opponents.
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This run really blew it wide open for Florida and by the final whistle of the first half, they were leading 46-25 over Southern Illinois.
The Gators were led in this half by Martin and Thomas Haugh. Martin contributed 18 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. He was also 4-for-7 from 3. Haugh – the more surprising standout from the first half – was having his way offensively as well. The sophomore was 4-for-7 overall and 3-for-4 from 3. He also made both of his free throw attempts in the half, which gave him 13 first-half points.
The beginning of the half was dull for the Gators. The offense didn’t make its first basket until the 18-minute mark and it was a layup from Walter Clayton Jr. This stagnant play was short lived though.
That is because Martin came alive for the Gators once again. The senior went unconscious from deep, hitting four consecutive 3’s for the Gators that included one from the logo with the shot clock expiring. By the end of his scoring tirade, the Gators led 67-38 over their opposition.
Then, not too long after this, the Gator fans got their next highlight play. This time, it came from Haugh. The wing came flying in over the defense and got big for a putback slam to extend the Gators’ lead to 30.
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From here, the Gators were on cruise control. Southern Illinois had some stretches offensively, but never really threatened to come back in this one. In the end, Florida won 93-68 over Southern Illinois.
Alijah Martin was unstoppable in this one. He ended the game with 32 points on 11-for-19 shooting and 8-for-13 from behind the arc. He also brought down 8 rebounds and dished out five assists in this one.
Also, Martin’s eight 3’s gave him a new career high in this category. Any time he let it fly, it felt like it was going in, he said after the game.
“I just felt like every one of them was going in,” Martin said.
Haugh, on the other hand, actually set a career-high in scoring against Southern Illinois. He poured in 19 points, shooting 6-for-10 overall and 3-for-5 from 3. He also was perfect from the line, hitting all four of his free throw attempts.
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His performance from behind the arc and at the charity stripe was great on the night and these were something he worked all summer on he said.
“I worked on (3-point shooting) a lot,” Haugh said. “I didn’t shoot the ball the greatest at the beginning of the year, but teammates still trusted me. And just like starting to hopefully get into a rhythm here cause all the work hopefully going to show soon.”
It’s a long break until the Gators return to action. Their next game isn’t until next Thursday when they take on Wake Forest at the ESPN Events Invitational. That game is slated for a 2:30 p.m. tipoff in Orlando and will be televised on ESPN.
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