Pomona, CALIFORNIA

March 14, 2008 - Steven Petralia, 50, a former school teacher who once taught disabled children in California, Florida and Maine, and who was profiled on "America's Most Wanted," pleaded no contest to an assault charge involving a June 2007 attack on a 15-year-old boy. The charge was assault with intent to commit oral copulation.

Petralia was arrested in November after being featured on the show's web site. Petralia allegedly met a 15-year-old boy outside a local contractors' warehouse and said he would pay him to move boxes at his home in San Dimas. The boy, who was not sexually assaulted, managed to leave the home and get a neighbor to take him to the local sheriff's station. Petralia was arrested and disappeared while on bail.

Police found him when they learned of his whereabouts after he posted items for sale on the Craigslist Web site.
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Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Press Release on his arrest. (dated Nov 21, 2007)
America's Most Wanted page for Petralia. If you recognize the picture at the web site and know of any problems with him from his teaching, please call AMW at 1-800-CRIME-TV, or email them your tip at their web site. (At bottom of each page.)

TT - In California, illegal aliens looking for work hang out in the hundreds outside of home improvement warehouses and painting stores frequented by contractors. The stores provide tents and picnic tables for the illegal workers. It is a safe bet that Petralia picked up the young boy thinking that he wouldn't report the assault to police for fear of being deported.

SENTENCED May 28 - Petralia was sentenced to six years in prison. He has to register as a sex offender.