Illinois Code § 12-33
Illinois Code § 12-33. Reproduced from the official Illinois Compiled Statutes, with a citation summary, verification link, and related provisions.
§ 12-33.
Ritualized abuse of a child. (a) A person commits ritualized abuse of a child when he or she knowingly commits any of the following acts with, upon, or in the presence of a child as part of a ceremony, rite or any similar observance: (1) actually or in simulation, tortures, mutilates, or sacrifices any warm-blooded animal or human being; (2) forces ingestion, injection or other application of any narcotic, drug, hallucinogen or anaesthetic for the purpose of dulling sensitivity, cognition, recollection of, or resistance to any criminal activity; (3) forces ingestion, or external application, of human or animal urine, feces, flesh, blood, bones, body secretions, nonprescribed drugs or chemical compounds; (4) involves the child in a mock, unauthorized or unlawful marriage ceremony with another person or representation of any force or deity, followed by sexual contact with the child; (5) places a living child into a coffin or open grave containing a human corpse or remains; (6) threatens death or serious harm to a child, his or her parents, family, pets, or friends that instills a well-founded fear in the child that the threat will be carried out; or (7) unlawfully dissects, mutilates, or incinerates a human corpse. (b) The provisions of this Section shall not be construed to apply to: (1) lawful agricultural, animal husbandry, food preparation, or wild game hunting and fishing practices and specifically the branding or identification of livestock; (2) the lawful medical practice of male circumcision or any ceremony related to male circumcision; (3) any state or federally approved, licensed, or funded research project; or (4) the ingestion of animal flesh or blood in the performance of a religious service or ceremony. (b-5) For the purposes of this Section, "child" means any person under 18 years of age. (c) Ritualized abuse of a child is a Class 1 felony for a first offense. A second or subsequent conviction for ritualized abuse of a child is a Class X felony for which an offender who has attained the age of 18 years at the time of the commission of the offense may be sentenced to a term of natural life imprisonment and an offender under the age of 18 years at the time of the commission of the offense shall be sentenced under Section 5-4.5-105 of the Unified Code of Corrections. (d) (Blank). (Source: P.A. 99-69, eff. 1-1-16.)
Source: official Illinois text · Last verified 2026-08-27
At a glance
- Citation: Illinois Compiled Statutes § 12-33
- Jurisdiction: Illinois
- Code: Illinois Compiled Statutes
- Text: transcribed from the official source (verify below)
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