BLOOMINGTON - Attorneys for Jon White are asking courts in McLean and Champaign counties to reduce the sentence for the former teacher convicted of molesting 10 students in the Urbana and Unit 5 school districts.

In motions filed Nov. 6 in both counties, attorney Brett Olmstead argues that the 48 years White received in the Urbana case and the additional 12 years he received in the Normal case are excessive.

White pleaded guilty in February to eight counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse related to eight students at the Thomas Paine Elementary School in Urbana, where he taught after leaving Colene Hoose Elementary School in Normal in spring 2005.

White was arrested in January 2007 after parents of an Urbana student notified school officials of an activity known as the "taste testing game" White conducted in his classroom with female students. A McLean County investigation resulted in criminal charges involving two students.

White also pleaded guilty to abusing the former Colene Hoose students.

On Wednesday the first of the families involved in the White case reached a $300,000 civil court settlement with the Urbana school district. The settlement was reached, but the girl's family had not filed a lawsuit.

Olmstead is asking for a reduction from 48 to 32 years in the Champaign County case with a concurrent eight years in the McLean County case. As it stands, White's 12-year sentence in McLean County would have to be served after the 48-year term, bringing his current combined sentence to 60 years.

Kim Campbell, McLean County's first assistant state's attorney, said Thursday that "the state believes the sentence should stand as there are no meritorious issues in their motion."

Errors by a Champaign County therapist hired to provide a sex offender evaluation on White are among the reasons Olmstead cites for the reduced sentence.

Michael Kleppin acknowledged at White's April 28 sentencing in Bloomington that mistakes were made in the scoring used to determine White's risk as a sex offender. The errors resulted in White being assessed as a higher risk offender at the sentencing, said Olmstead.

Champaign County Judge Harry Clem and McLean County Judge Charles Reynard failed to take into account factors in White's favor, said Olmstead.

The offense of placing a banana in the girls' mouths for White sexual gratification did not involve sexual contact, White's attorney argued. The actions were criminal because of White's intentions, "something the victims did not and could not have known," said the motion.

A Dec. 5 hearing is set in Champaign County on Olmstead's motion. No date has been set in McLean County.

Still pending in McLean County and federal court in Urbana are several civil cases filed by parents and students against Unit 5 and the Urbana school districts.