Friday, November 20, 2009 East Central Illinois

Victim to get $250,000 in settlement in Jon White case

By: Meg Thilmony

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Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Payments will start when girl, now 10, turns 18

URBANA – A Champaign County judge approved the settlement between a victim of former Urbana teacher Jon White and the Urbana school district Tuesday.

Judge Brian McPheters approved the settlement, which states that the child, identified as Jane Doe-8, will receive $250,000 in present-day cash.

She was White's student at Thomas Paine Elementary School.

The payments start after the child turns 18 and will continue in some form until she's 30. And about $83,000 – a third of the settlement – will go to the child's attorney, Michael McClellan of Urbana.

Decatur attorney Colette McCarty was present on behalf of the school district, but declined to comment about the case.

She referred The News-Gazette to Rachel Lutner of Robbins, Schwartz Nicholas Lifton & Taylor, Ltd. of Decatur. Lutner could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening.

The structured settlement was designed to assist the child during her college years, testified her mother, who was identified as Julie Doe-8, as well as with things like graduate school or buying a house.

Her parents hope she'll be mature enough to handle the money then and make good decisions with it, her mother testified.

McPheters also approved a request to make the victim's mother and her ex-husband and the victim's father, unidentified only as John Doe-8, co-guardians of the child's estate.

White, now 28, pleaded guilty last February to 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, eight in Champaign County and two in McLean County, where he taught prior to his tenure in Urbana.

He is serving 60 years in prison on those combined convictions.

The child's mother said she has tried to protect her daughter from the facts of the case.

The child, who is now 10, has figured out some of what happened from some of her school-age friends, and she knows White got in trouble, her mother testified.

The girl's father testified that the victim isn't yet in counseling after the incident.

However, the victim's younger sister has also been negatively affected by the Jon White incident, even though she wasn't a direct victim of White's, he testified.

Because their child, White's victim, won't receive any money from the settlement until after she turns 18, both parents said they have the means to provide counseling for her should she need it.

Mike Ohler, a structured settlement consultant for EPS Settlements Group in Cincinnati, testified that the settlement will be paid by Prudential. The firm was selected for its high ratings.

With their agreement to the settlement, the child's parents agreed they can't seek any more money from the Urbana school district regarding their daughter's experience. However, they reserved their right to pursue damages from the Normal school district, where White was employed before he started teaching in Urbana.

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