Actors Admit Sex With Minor, Get 5 Years’ Probation

Two actors on television’s “America’s Most Wanted” program pleaded guilty Wednesday to having sex with a 14-year-old girl living at an abused children’s shelter in Van Nuys while the show was on location nearby in January 2001.

Cristian Saliadarre, 28, and Anthony Alvarez, 27, were sentenced to probation after entering pleas to single felony counts of having unlawful sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 16. In exchange for the guilty pleas, prosecutors dropped charges of unlawful sodomy and oral copulation with a person under the age of 16.

Before their sentencing, which took place shortly after they entered the pleas, both men addressed the court and expressed remorse for their actions, their lawyers said.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ronni B. MacLaren sentenced each defendant to five years’ probation and ordered each to pay $5,000 to a victims restitution fund, perform 1,000 hours of community service and attend sex offender counseling.

Prosecutors had sought six-month jail terms for the defendants, but the judge declined, citing their lack of criminal histories, their remorse and the consensual nature of the sexual encounters, Deputy Dist. Atty. Melinda Murray said.

The victim, who is now 15, broke down in tears as she told the court how she was traumatized by the incident, Murray said.

Lois Lee, executive director of Children of the Night, the shelter for abused teens and former prostitutes where the victim resided, said she had hoped the defendants would get jail time or be required to register as sex offenders.

“We’re just real disappointed and we feel unprotected,” she said, noting that 14-year-olds should “be protected by the law.”

Sammy M. Weiss, Saliadarre’s attorney, said after the sentencing that his client did not know the nature of the shelter or how young the teenager was and has been “extremely remorseful from Day One.” Weiss added, “All I can say is that the victim contributed a great deal to this problem.”

“My client was also, in a way, a victim,” said Alvarez’s lawyer, Gilbert Moret.

The defendants, who appeared somber as they left the courtroom, declined to comment.

They encountered the victim after a day of shooting a reenactment segment for the popular crime program in an alley next to the shelter.

After talking with the girl through her window, Saliadarre removed the screen, climbed inside and had sex with her, authorities said. Later, the girl climbed out of her window and had sex with Alvarez in the alley, according to authorities.

Lee said that the shelter, which is privately funded, installed security cameras and stronger window screens after the incident.

The director criticized police and the district attorney’s office for taking nearly four months to secure arrest warrants against the men, saying she believed there was a “special relationship between the LAPD, ‘America’s Most Wanted’ and the D.A.’s office.”

Lee also said that after she complained about the length of the investigation, a detective suggested that her complaints might interfere with an award “America’s Most Wanted” was about to receive. That detective could not be reached for comment.

Murray, the prosecutor, denied that the TV show’s involvement had any effect on the progress of the case.

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Times staff writer Caitlin Liu contributed to this report.