CHAMPAIGN, Ill.- A second-grade teacher at an Urbana school has been charged with molesting three of his students.

Jon Andrew White, 26, pleaded not guilty Thursday to three counts of predatory criminal sexual assault of a child, Champaign County State’s Attorney Julia Rietz said. The charges are Class X felonies, meaning White could face life in prison if convicted on two or more of the counts.

White, who lives in Normal, was arrested Wednesday morning as he arrived for work at Thomas Paine Grade School, Urbana police said.

He is accused of molesting three girls in his classroom sometime between September and December of 2006, according to prosecutors and police Lt. Mike Metzler. The girls were each 7 or 8 at the time.

Police began investigating White this week after being notified by a “concerned citizen,” Metzler said. He declined to identify that person.

Defense attorney Brett Olmstead said during Thursday’s arraignment that there were “serious problems with the evidence” and the allegations, but declined to elaborate. Bond was set at $500,000 and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for Feb. 27.

The Urbana School District in November investigated allegations that White had acted improperly with two of his students, but concluded the accusations probably were the result of misunderstandings, Superintendent Gene Amberg said.

White also taught for the Normal-based Unit 5 school district from 2002 to 2005, John Pye, the district’s assistant superintendent of operations and human resources, told The (Bloomington) Pantagraph.

White taught at Bloomington’s Brigham Elementary School the first year and at Colene Hoose Elementary School in Normal the following years, Pye said.

Pye said he could not discuss whether any complaints had been filed against White in that district because he could not discuss personnel matters.