Friday, November 20, 2009 East Central Illinois

Name of young victim of Jon White will remain undisclosed

By: Amy F. Reiter

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Tuesday, November 04, 2008

URBANA – The name of a child victim of Jon White will remain undisclosed in potential settlement documents involving the girl and her family and the Urbana school district, according to a ruling made Monday by Champaign County Judge Brian McPheters.

White is a former Urbana teacher convicted of 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, including eight in Champaign County, and now serving a 60-year prison sentence.

The girl will be referred to as Jane Doe-1 and her parents will be referred to as Julie and John Doe-1.

Steve Amjad, the Champaign lawyer representing the family, said making the girl or her family's name viewable in public records may cause her further harm.

Amjad also requested that a supplemental petition including the girl's personal information – as well as a potential settlement amount – be sealed and impounded.

He said the potential harm to the girl outweighed the public's right to that information.

"We realize this is a public proceeding," he said. "We're not trying to impound the entire court file."

McPheters questioned why the documents should be sealed. "We've already allowed you to proceed under fictitious names," McPheters said.

He said he needed to consider "the public's interest in knowing what their public bodies are doing."

McPheters granted the motion to seal the family's personal information, but said "I'm not agreeing at this time to (seal) any amounts."

Amjad declined to comment.

The next court date was set for Dec. 3.

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