BLOOMINGTON - Jon White was sentenced to 12 years Tuesday for sexually abusing two first-graders at Colene Hoose Elementary School in what a judge described as an extraordinary violation of trust. | Mom wishes she followed instincts about White | Video

The 12-year term reflects six years for each of the McLean County victims. The time will be served after White completes 48 years handed down earlier this month in Champaign County for the sexual abuse of eight girls at the Thomas Paine Elementary School in Urbana.

McLean County Judge Charles Reynard said he hopes the children involved in the case can move beyond the trauma of White's behavior in the classroom and see themselves as survivors.

"They have had a broken experience, but they are not broken," Reynard said.

The judge told White that his possible parole date from prison is 2037.

White taught at Hoose from 2003 to 2005.

He left the school after a parent complained that White followed her daughter around the school and gave her pictures of an actress. White was given a letter of recommendation from the Unit 5 school district as part of a separation agreement.

He then worked for the Urbana school district until he was arrested in January 2007 and charged with abusing students at Thomas Paine Elementary School, Urbana. Charges of abuse later were filed in McLean County.

The charges in both counties involved the same "tasting game" in which students licked toppings from a banana, prosecutors said. The teacher admitted he later performed a sexual act when he was alone in his classroom.

Before Reynard's ruling, White read a statement of apology to the victims, their families and his family.

White also commented on his experiences over the past two weeks since his transfer to Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet. He said he has been subjected to "daily, hourly verbal abuse from inmates who recognize my face."

White said he is afraid to go outside for exercise.

The former educator said he intends to use his time in prison to address the issues that have ruined his life.

"I don't want this life. I feel the time I serve in prison will do what it's supposed to do for me," said White.

The mother of one Champaign victim told The Pantagraph that she is relieved the long legal ordeal is over.

"I am happy he got six years and he could have gotten longer," said the mother.

She said she and other parents of the victims are relieved that the children did not have to testify in court.

White pleaded guilty to abusing eight children in Champaign County and another two children in McLean County. The February plea agreement kept the children out of the courtroom.

White's defense attorney, Carol Dison, said after the hearing that motions will be filed in both counties asking that the sentences be reconsidered. If those efforts fail, she said an appeal will be filed.

"Jon was devastated today," Dison said of her client's reaction to the 12-year sentence.

"He was hoping for a second chance at life. With a total of 60 years, that looks bleak," said Dison.

Dison asked for three years to be served concurrently with the Champaign County sentence. Giving White a sentence at or near the maximum of seven years leaves little room for recognition that White did not perform any direct sexual acts with the children, said Dison.

"If he is the worst, where does that put the man who actually touches a child?" Dison asked the judge.

McLean County First Assistant State's Attorney Kim Campbell dismissed defense arguments that the children could have suffered more serious sexual offenses at the hands of their teacher.

Information children gave to interviewers with the McLean County Children's Advocacy Center indicate that the girls knew White's actions were inappropriate, said the prosecutor.

In her arguments for a maximum term of 14 years on the McLean County charges, Campbell described White as "a master manipulator, a groomer of children to satisfy his fantasies."

The prosecutor also found White's apology lacking.

"I don't believe a word he said to the parents and victims. I think the tears were all for him," said Campbell.