Crime & Safety

UPDATED: 2 Lake Elsinore Teens Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Girl Due In Court

Tyler Romero, 18, and Michael Petler, 19, are now scheduled for a felony conference settlement Oct. 24, court records show.

Two Lake Elsinore teens who have been charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl were due in court Thursday, but a continuance was requested.

Tyler Romero, 18, and Michael Petler, 19, were scheduled for a felony conference settlement Thursday but the date has been continued to Oct. 24, according to court records.

Romero was also in court today for arraignment on an unrelated misdemeanor charge of possessing a knife at a public school. He entered a plea of not guilty, the records show. The alleged violation date was May 17, 2013.

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Both defendants have been charged with sexually assaulting a girl in May near Grand Avenue and Adelfa Street in Lakeland Village. They have each pleaded not guilty to four felony charges apiece that include oral copulation, exhibiting harmful matter to minor, sexual penetration with bodily injury on minor, and sexual penetration with foreign object, court records show.

In addition to the sexual assault charges, the two have denied sentence-enhancing allegations.

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Both defendants remain in custody at Southwest Detention Center in French Valley in lieu of $165,000 bail each, according to jail records.

The investigation into their arrests began July 1 and was handed to detectives at the Lake Elsinore Sheriff’s Station, according to a report from Sgt. Todd Pauling.

“The investigation revealed that the 14-year-old girl was sexually assaulted in the area of Grand Avenue and Adelfa Street [in] Lakeland Village after leaving a party in May of 2013,” Pauling’s report read. “The female juvenile was given alcohol while at the party by one adult male and was later sexually assaulted by two adult males.”

Romero was arrested Sept. 18 at 9:30 a.m. in the 17600 block of Nelson Avenue in Lake Elsinore, while Petler was arrested on the same date and time at the Jack in the Box located on Riverside Drive in Lake Elsinore, jail records show.



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