Friday, November 20, 2009 East Central Illinois

Ex-Urbana official pleads guilty in Jon White case

By: Mary Schenk

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Friday, December 12, 2008

URBANA – A retired Urbana school district administrator admitted Friday that she failed to report her suspicions of child abuse by then-teacher Jon White to state authorities as required by law.

Carmelita Thomas, 57, of Champaign will not suffer a conviction, however, under the terms of a plea agreement she entered into before Champaign County Judge John Kennedy.

Thomas was the human resources director for Urbana District 116 when parents and students at Thomas Paine Elementary School in Urbana came forward in November 2006 with allegations that White, now 28, was conducting inappropriate "taste-testing games" with female students in his second-grade class.

Laying out the details for the judge, Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Rietz said the parents of one of White's students complained to district officials in November and that Thomas interviewed two girls and White.

Rietz said that on Nov. 7, 2006, one girl told Thomas how White blindfolded her, put a banana in her mouth and instructed her to "wobble her head back and forth."

Thomas then wrote a report stating that there was not enough evidence to conclude White had done anything improper, Rietz said.

Thomas did not report the allegations to the Department of Children and Family Services as required by the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act. It was that omission to which she pleaded guilty.

The girl in that interview was one of the eight girls named as victims in the aggravated criminal sexual abuse counts to which White pleaded guilty in February in Champaign County. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of the same crime in McLean County for similar behavior with two female students in the Normal school district, where he taught prior to coming to Urbana.

White is serving a 60-year prison sentence on all the convictions. Last week, Champaign County Judge Harry Clem declined to reduce the 48-year sentence he gave White in April.

Thomas, who retired at the end of the 2006-2007 school year, was sentenced to 18 months of court supervision, fined $2,000, and ordered to perform 100 hours of public service in a year. If she successfully completes the period of supervision, Thomas will have no record of a conviction.

Failure to report abuse allegations is a Class A misdemeanor carrying a maximum penalty of a year in the county jail and a fine of up to $2,500.

Thomas declined to comment through her lawyer, Dan Kennedy of Champaign.

Rietz said she felt the plea was fair.

"I am satisfied that Ms. Thomas publicly acknowledged her error by pleading guilty," she said.

"From what I've seen since this case has come to light, local school districts are taking the issue of mandated reporting very seriously," Rietz said. "I am very pleased to see this response."

The two other former school officials charged with failure to make a mandated report of White-related suspicions – former Superintendent Gene Amberg and former Thomas Paine Principal Janice Bradley – were also in court Friday and had their cases continued to Jan. 23.

Rietz would not comment on whether the two had been offered deals similar to that of Thomas, but Ed Piraino, attorney for Bradley, said that he was working with Rietz to try to resolve her case without a trial.

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