Update, December 9, 4:04 p.m.: Junior high school music teacher Mark Gerard Petrash, who was
convicted in September of two misdemeanor counts of
indecent exposure and one misdemeanor count of false imprisonment for exposing his penis to women in May and August '09, was sentenced today to 90 days in jail.
The 42-year-old Lake Forest resident, who in one of the incidents put on an unwanted show for a receptionist while his son was in an orthodontist's chair, must also register as a sex offender. His other victim was a fellow educator cornered in a hotel restroom during a Saddleback Valley Unified School District event.
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Petrash, who is no longer employed by the school district, apologized in court and indicated he is getting treatment, which apparently satisfied the judge who could have imposed a two-year jail sentence.
Original Updated Post, September 28, 2:10 p.m.: Junior high school music teacher Mark Gerard Petrash
was convicted today of exposing his penis to women in May and August
'09. One victim of the Petrash flash was a fellow teacher attending a
school district event and the other was a receptionist in an
orthodontist's office–during Petrash's son's dental appointment. The
42-year-old from Lake Forest was found guilty by a jury of two
misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure and one misdemeanor count of
false imprisonment.
The Serrano Intermediate School music teacher, who previously taught at Mission
Viejo High School, could get two years in jail and have to register as a sex offender
after his Nov. 18 sentencing at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport
Beach.
On Aug. 24, 2009, Petrash took his son to an
orthodontist appointment, waiting in the empty reception room when his son went to an examination room. That is when Petrash stood up, pulled up his shorts and flashed his lil' conductor's bow at the receptionist.
She reported the incident to the Orange County Sheriff's
Department, and Petrash was arrested by deputies at the school on Oct. 1, 2009. Media coverage of his arrest led a
teacher from his school district to come forward.
She revealed that on the night of May 8, 2009, Petrash followed her into a hotel restroom stall during a
Saddleback Valley Unified School District event and stood between her and the door,
and exposing and rubbing his skin flute. Prince Charming then put his finger
over his mouth to clue the woman into remaining silent.
She managed to escape and did remain silent–but not long enough for Mark Petrash.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.