Teacher pleads not guilty

PRINCETON -- Gina Purvis pleaded not guilty once again in a Bureau County courtroom. Appearing before LaSalle County Circuit Court Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr., Purvis pleaded not guilty to four additional Class 1 felonies of criminal sexual assault. Purvis, a teacher at Hall High School in Spring Valley, was first indicted Dec. 15 by a Bureau County grand jury on one Class 2 felony of aggravated criminal sexual abuse with a 15-year-old male student. The December indictment came five weeks after Hall officials reported information about the case to the Spring Valley Police Department. The indictment said the sexual abuse allegedly happened, in part, on the property of Hall High School in February. Another Bureau County grand jury indicted Purvi