BLOOMINGTON - For many students, the bond they have with a teacher is second only to the relationship they have with their parents.

When that bond is shattered because a teacher is accused of sexual abuse, the consequences can be devastating for educators, the children and their families - and no school district is immune.

In a 2002 U.S. Department of Education report, Carol Shakeshaft, a Hofstra University professor and the report's author, estimated 15 percent of all students will be sexually abused during their school career. The nationally recognized expert on educator sexual misconduct said the statistics point to a troubling conclusion: Sexual abuse by teachers is not a rare occurrence.

Compiling data on the number of teacher-related abuse cases reported in the United States is difficult, said Terri Miller, president of Stop Educator Sexual Abuse, Misconduct and Exploitation, a Nevada-based group that tracks abuse by educators and advocates to find ways to eliminate the problem.

"We don't have a clear picture of the data. Only 17 states mandate that statistics be gathered," Miller said. Illinois is not one of them. "We have 52 million children enrolled in school today. If 10 percent are abused, that's 5.2 million children. That's an epidemic to my way of thinking."

At the same time, few teachers in Illinois are losing their ability to teach because of such allegations.

According to the Illinois State Board of Education, the number of teachers who have lost their certifications because of a conviction for a sexually related offense has decreased since 2001 when teaching credentials were revoked or suspended for 14 educators. Only one license was revoked in 2002, and an average of seven suspensions has been recorded in the state from 2003 to 2006, according to ISBE records.

The issue of how effectively teachers are screened for their jobs has intensified in Central Illinois after the arrest of a teacher in Urbana, followed by similar allegations in Bloomington-Normal.

Jon Andrew White, 26, of Normal was charged in February in Champaign County with molesting nine girls at Thomas Paine Elementary School in Urbana. White also taught at Brigham Elementary in 2002 and Colene Hoose Elementary from 2003 to 2005 in the Normal-based Unit 5 school district. Shortly after the Champaign County charges were filed, local parents began talking with their children and the police.

As a result, White was charged in March with two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault in McLean County involving two students at Hoose in 2004. He has pleaded innocent to the charges in both counties.

More recently, Unit 5 and District 87 officials have been dealing with allegations against a Twin City minister and substitute teacher, James C. Love, who faces multiple counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse and aggravated battery involving four alleged victims. Love is accused of sedating teenage boys before sexually abusing them at his home, according to the charges.

John Pye, assistant superintendent of operations and human resources for Unit 5, hopes the widely publicized accusations will not damage the teaching profession.

"I would hate to see teachers and the teaching profession painted with a broad brush. We have far more teachers not only in our community but across the U.S. that are working hard and dedicated to their students day in and day out," Pye said.

Vickie Mahrt, president of the Unit 5 teachers' union, agreed.

"There is nothing more important to teachers than student safety. We are sad any time we learn that a child has been harmed by anyone, anywhere. We know that a school is one of the safest places a child can be, and we continue to look for ways to make our schools safer," Mahrt said.

One of the central questions about White is how he was able to get a job teaching in Urbana after he left Unit 5. Did school officials there, parents have asked, know about why he left Hoose a year earlier? Weren't there any warning signs about him?

Unit 5 officials were quick to point out after White was charged in Champaign County that they never received a complaint about White, who had a misdemeanor conviction (not involving a child) on his record when he was hired.

The problem, it appears, is while school districts perform criminal background checks and make other pre-hiring inquiries, the fear of being sued can discourage school administrators from disclosing concerns or suspicions about a teacher's improper behavior toward children. A bill to require them to do that is pending in the Illinois General Assembly (see accompanying story).

That means the process for hiring teachers is much like that for any other job: reference checks; a mandatory criminal background check; and interviews that by their nature involve judgment on the part of the person making the hiring decision.

Unit 5 has received about 1,500 applications for 100 teaching positions open in recent years, according to district data.

The first step in the hiring process is to check a candidate's credentials. Individuals identified as potential hires are then screened through a reference check.

Pye said these background calls can be extended to include contacts school officials may have in a community. Applicants also must complete a state mandated fingerprint-based background check through Illinois State Police and the FBI. And districts must complete a check of the state Sex Offender Registry.

Disqualifying an applicant based on something learned during the criminal background check is unusual, Pye said.

"Anything that involves drugs, anything involving children or things that would put children at risk would be red flags," he said.

Questions would be asked about arrests or probation terms disclosed in reports. "I may ask the person to come in and give me their explanation of what transpired," Pye said.

A probation record didn't keep White from being hired at Brigham. According to court records, White completed probation for resisting a police officer on Sept. 1, 2002. Pye said he was not involved in White's hiring and didn't know what questions may have been asked about the misdemeanor charge.

Citing confidentiality laws and the pending criminal charges, Unit 5 officials have declined since March to answer specific questions about why White left his first-grade classroom at Hoose before the school year ended in April 2005.

To Miller, school districts should not rely solely on background checks to determine a teacher's suitability for the classroom.

"Background checks provide a false sense of security. If the teacher is not on the radar, they can get through a check. Statistics show that a teacher can be in a minimum of three jurisdictions and offend dozens of students before he's reported," Miller said.

The personal safety information most students receive at home and at school - such as the "good touch, bad touch" training - probably has contributed to the number of children coming forward about abuse.

"Kids are more educated, have more public safety education, and that knowledge encourages them to tell. Children don't lie about these kinds of things," said Miller, adding that it is important for parents to report suspected abuse to the police first.

"I hope that if a teacher has done something inappropriate, students have the comfort level to share that with another teacher or staff person in that building," Pye added.

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Warning signs

Following are some of the warning signs of potential sexual abuse in children:

- Withdrawal from friends

- Spending too much time with one teacher

- Acting in a provocative or adult manner

- Signs of depressed behavior

- Expressing a strong desire to stop an activity without a specific reason

- New attention and gifts from someone

- Reluctance to be in the company of certain people

SOURCES: Terri Miller, president of Stop Educator Sexual Abuse, Misconduct and Exploitation; National Center for Missing and Exploited Children