Friday, November 20, 2009 East Central Illinois

Ex-Urbana superintendent found guilty

By: Mary Schenk

E-mail Story Printer-friendly

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

URBANA – Former Urbana school district superintendent Gene Amberg was found guilty of failure to report suspicions of child abuse to the Department of Children and Family Services.

In a stipulated bench trial Monday, Judge John Kennedy found the evidence sufficient to prove Amberg, 58, of Urbana guilty of failure to report to DCFS suspicions that Jon White enga- ged in conduct with female students designed to satisfy the former Thomas Paine Elementary School teacher's sexual urges.

Amberg admitted to hearing concerns from parents regarding White's behavior with their daughter and ordering in-district investigations into the concerns.

But under Illinois law, all adults regularly working with children – called "mandated reporters" – are required to report suspicions of child abuse and neglect to DCFS. Neither Amberg nor other school officials reported any of the concerns to DCFS.

Like his colleague Carmelita Thomas, 58, of Champaign, Amberg will not have a conviction on his record if he completes the terms of the court supervision he was granted under an agreement negotiated by State's Attorney Julia Rietz and his attorney, Tony Novak of Urbana.

He was sentenced to 18 months of court supervision, fined $2,000 and ordered to perform 100 hours of public service.

Novak released a statement later Monday afternoon, stating: "Dr. Amberg never intended to violate the mandatory reporting act. However, as superintendent at the time, Dr. Amberg takes full responsibility for his actions and decisions."

Novak said neither he nor his client would answer any questions.

"He admitted the facts, and the judge found him guilty," Rietz said.

According to those facts that Rietz and Novak agreed the judge could consider, Amberg was alerted on Nov. 2, 2006, by the parent of a second-grade girl that White had blindfolded th child for a so-called "taste-testing" game that involved her licking substances off a banana. The mother also told Amberg that White put warm toppings on her daughter's belly.

Amberg then contacted Principal Janice Bradley, who arranged to meet the next day with the parents. After talking to them and White, Bradley sent the parents and Amberg a letter saying she was satisfied that White was using "a legitimate teaching technique."

Rietz said the parents, still dissatisfied with Bradley's follow-up, met with Amberg again on Nov. 6, 2006, and had their child transferred to another school. Amberg told the parents he would have Thomas do an investigation.

Rietz said Thomas wrote a report in which she said the parents believed criminal activity might be going on, and that's why the district did further investigation of White.

Amberg currently teaches at the University of Illinois in the College of Education. He retired from the Urbana school district at the end of the 2006-07 school year.

Thomas pleaded guilty in December and was sentenced to 18 months of court supervision, fined $2,000 and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.

Bradley, 56, of Champaign, now retired, has a court appearance later this week. She is charged with two counts of failure to report.

"I hope to get her case resolved on Thursday," Rietz said Monday.

Thomas, who is also retired, was the human resources director for the school district when parents came forward in the fall of 2006 with complaints that White, 28, was playing "taste-testing" games with their second-grade daughters. White was arrested at school Jan. 31, 2007. He is serving a 60-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in February 2008 in Champaign and McLean counties to 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.

White's father, Robert White of Villa Grove, attended Amberg's hearing.

News-Gazette staff writer Amy F. Reiter contributed to this report.

Other Jon White stories