Man Gets Probation for Lewd Conduct With 2 Boys

A former tow truck driver, accused of lewd acts with two young boys who took turns sleeping in his bed, was sentenced Friday to three years probation, during which he will be barred from being alone with anyone under age 18.

Joseph Lee Christner, 31, of Corona maintained he did nothing wrong with the Orange County boys, who are brothers, but said he pleaded guilty to charges of lewd conduct because he thought media coverage of his arrest ruined his chances for a fair trial, according to a sentencing report.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Rosanne Froeberg sought a prison sentence, calling Christner a “predator and pedophile” who fondled the boys through their pajamas, kissed them and videotaped them while they were in the shower or using the toilet. The boys were 8 and 11 when the incidents allegedly occurred.

But Superior Court Judge Robert R. Fitzgerald sentenced the man to probation, saying the “offensive touching was of a minimal nature” involving no “skin-to-skin” contact.

The judge prohibited Christner from being a member of any group that would put him in contact with children. Christner must also pay up to $3,000 to defray costs of counseling for the brothers, who were living with their mother and the defendant when the molestation allegedly took place between June, 1993, and February, 1994.

In a letter to authorities, the boys’ father said they haven’t been the same since.

“I still don’t know what all happened to them,” he wrote in a letter contained in the sentencing report. “They don’t talk about it and I don’t bring it up. It’s one of those things that you would like to forget about, but I know they never will. I just thank God that it never went as far as it could have.”

Christner admitted that he let the boys sleep with him after they and their mother moved into his apartment, and he now realizes it wasn’t a good idea, according to the sentencing report. But he denied ever touching them in an “inappropriate” manner, as they contended, and he said he considered them sons.