Illinois Catholic Church faces legal and transparency challenges after clergy abuse report.

Illinois' attorney general has released a nearly 700-page report revealing that more than 450 Catholic clergy in the state had sexually abused nearly 2,000 children since 1950. However, the finding is unlikely to lead to criminal charges due to statute of limitations. Advocates hope the report will prompt people to file civil lawsuits and encourage legislatures to take further steps enabling prosecutors to charge older sex abuse cases and toughen standards for mandatory reporting. Diocese evidence files are often incomplete, disorganized, and sometimes include illegible handwriting, and there is little possibility of criminal charges against church officials who helped conceal abuse.