Former Unit 5 teacher Jon White appeared before judges in Champaign and McLean counties Wednesday to plead guilty to 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of elementary school girls at schools in Urbana and Normal. | Updated photo gallery | Advocates, educators hope for healing

White could be sentenced in April to as many as 70 years in prison on the 10 counts in the two counties.

White was in Urbana on Wednesday morning and admitted to eight counts involving nine students at the Thomas Paine School in Urbana. The 27-year-old faces 21 to 56 years in prison on those charges.

White was in Bloomington later Wednesday to plead guilty to two counts of sexual abuse involving two girls at Colene Hoose Elementary School in Normal. He faces an additional six to 14 years for those charges.

Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Rietz said after the crowded court hearing Wednesday morning that parents of the children were pleased with the outcome of the case and that their children would not be forced to testify against White.

"First and foremost, this plea gives closure to these little girls and their families," Rietz said.

McLean County First Assistant State's Attorney Kim Campbell declined to comment on the case until after White is sentenced.

In the later hearing, White told McLean County Judge Charles Reynard he understood the McLean County sentence could be consecutive to the prison term he will receive in Champaign County.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, White cannot receive probation.

The deal spares White a jury trial that was scheduled to begin Monday in Decatur, where the trial on the Champaign County charges was moved because of extensive media attention.

White answered "Yes, sir" each time Champaign County Judge Harry Clem asked if he understood the individual charge to which he was pleading guilty.

"It was the hardest thing he's ever done in his life," defense lawyer Brett Olmstead later said in Bloomington of White's decision to plead guilty after two weeks of plea negotiations.

The plea deal kept the children from having to testify and spared White the possibility of a life sentence.

A statement read by Rietz on Wednesday detailed each incident that White admitted occurred in a secluded corner of his second-grade classroom with nine girls from August 2005 to December 2006. He was arrested Jan. 31, 2007.

Defense co-counsel Carol Dison said after the statement that "we do not necessarily agree with the factual basis but we agree that the state has witnesses who would testify substantially as indicated."

The allegations that shocked parents in Champaign County quickly spread to McLean County, where White taught first grade at Colene Hoose Elementary School in Normal during the 2004-05 school year.

Within weeks of the Champaign charges, White was charged with predatory criminal sexual assault of two girls in McLean County.

White left his post at Hoose after the parents of a fifth-grade girl complained that White followed her around the school and gave her photos of an actress that he said she resembled, Campbell said. Unit 5 officials have declined to talk about the specific reasons White resigned from the district.

White was hired in Urbana after he left Normal.

Prosecutors in both counties had accused White of blindfolding the girls while engaging in a "tasting game," an activity that involved inappropriate sexual activity.

During pretrial hearings in Urbana, parents testified their daughters disclosed details of the activity during casual conversations outside the school. Parents reported the information to school officials, who initially accepted White's explanation that the activity was part of a lesson related to Helen Keller.

Police became involved after a parent told an officer about the so-called game.

In the afternoon hearing in Bloomington, Campbell read a statement indicating that White's behavior in his first-grade classroom became troubling in fall 2004. White was downloading pornography from the Internet and sending the material to his home computer, Campbell said.

A teacher also complained White was allowing students to sit on his lap, a practice discouraged in teacher training, the prosecutor said. One child said White asked her to give him a back rub underneath his shirt, Campbell added.

After charges were filed in Champaign County, several of White's former Hoose students were interviewed at Bloomington's Child Advocacy Center about time they spent in his classroom during recess and after school. The description of the activity matched information Urbana students gave authorities about what prosecutors considered sexual abuse by White.

The former teacher's DNA was found on scarves and a blindfold used during the activity, according to court records.

On Wednesday, Clem told White that a presentencing investigation will be conducted and include White's educational background, any previous criminal activity and information about his family. White also will undergo a sex offender evaluation as a condition of his bond.

White has been free on $175,000 bond posted by his parents last June on charges in both counties. He has been staying with his parents in Villa Grove.

He will remain free on bond until the April 3-4 sentencing hearing in Urbana. He will be sentenced at an April 28-29 hearing in Bloomington.