UPDATE: Naked photos for cash

The District Attorney's Office says it plans to file criminal charges against a Lawndale teacher's assistant arrested on suspicion of molesting a 14-year-old student during two steam baths at the Torrance Marriott Hotel.

Ralph Ulibarri Jr., 22, will be charged before his May 5 arraignment in South Bay Municipal Court, said Ron Geltz, a deputy district attorney who handles sex crimes in the South Bay.

Ulibarri , arrested Wednesday and released on $10,000 bail, will face two counts of sexual battery and two counts of oral copulation with a person under 16, Geltz said.

"Those four charges at minimum are what he will be facing," Geltz said. "All the charges involve one victim. . . . Further investigation is taking place, though."

Ulibarri , employed part-time at Will Rogers Intermediate School, denies he fondled the seventh-grader's genitals or orally copulated him during two trips to the health club last month. The alleged victim is a special education student at the school.

"None of that is true," Ulibarri said Thursday. "I do know this child is very emotionally disturbed."

Ulibarri , a Torrance resident, also is a Hawthorne Boy Scout troop leader; police are questioning children in the troop.

The alleged molestations occurred in the Marriott steam room March 4 and 18. Geltz said Ulibarri and the boy worked out together several times at the club, where Ulibarri is a member.

"There were several occasions when they went there," Geltz said. "However, those dates (in March) were the only times when those activities occurred."

In the first incident, Ulibarri allegedly fondled the boy's genitals but stopped when the boy protested verbally and physically, Geltz said.

After the second alleged assault, the boy told his mother, who then contacted school officials. Authorities there contacted Torrance police March 22.

The prosecutor said investigators have evidence to corroborate the boy's account, but he would not discuss it Thursday because of the ongoing investigation.

Others interviewed

Investigators have spoken to other potential victims and plan to speak to others, Geltz said. He said he did not know specifics of that investigation.

Ulibarri said the accusations stunned him because he befriended the boy even though he believed the youth is emotionally troubled and has a violent temper.

"The mother had asked me to work with him like a big brother-type thing," Ulibarri said. "He needed help."

During the visits to the club, they worked out and bathed in the sauna. Each time they wore bathing suits and towels, Ulibarri said.

Ulibarri said he met the boy in September during lunchtime activities at school. The student was not in his class.

The boy often confided in him, asking for help with his problems.

Two weeks ago, Ulibarri said, the boy displayed his temper when he struck a female teacher. He then was expelled.

`Very unstable'

"He's got a lot of anger built up against adults," Ulibarri said. "He makes up lies and stuff. This child is very, very unstable."

In explaining the boy's accusations, Ulibarri said the boy might have been angered when Ulibarri refused to take him to the gym March 22. Ulibarri said he had a date that night.

"I think he is hurt and he needs help," Ulibarri said.

Martha Shaw, principal at the school, referred questions to Lawndale School District Superintendent Joe Condon.

Ulibarri has been placed on paid administrative leave.

As an instructional aide, Ulibarri works with small groups of 12- to 14-year-old students who have learning difficulties. The children are not developmentally or physically disabled, Condon said.

Ulibarri has no prior sex crime convictions, Geltz said. If convicted on all charges, he faces a sentence ranging from probation without jail up to six years, four months in state prison, Geltz said.