Joseph D. Risher's next-door neighbor knew Mr. Risher didn't have any children, so when he noticed young boys coming and going from Mr. Risher's Jeannette apartment, the neighbor became suspicious.

When the neighbor, Earl Barber, searched the state Megan's Law Web site, his suspicions were confirmed. Mr. Risher is a registered sex offender who had reported that he was living in Hempfield with his mother, not on Wylie Avenue in Jeannette.

Mr. Risher, 54, now resides in the Westmoreland County Prison, charged with sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy.

It's his second time behind bars, the first coming after he pleaded guilty to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse in 1993. Under Megan's Law, he had to register his residence and workplace with the state.

According to police reports, after receiving the tip from Mr. Barber on Sunday night, officers went to Mr. Risher's apartment, where they found two 12-year-old boys who referred to Mr. Risher as "Uncle Joe," even though they were not related to him.

The next day, one boy told investigators that Mr. Risher had paid him to allow Mr. Risher to perform oral sex on the boy three different times. The boys also said Mr. Risher had given them whiskey, and they had smoked cigarettes and marijuana with him. The boys had been riding their bikes to Mr. Risher's apartment for two to three weeks.

Monday night, officers tracked down Mr. Risher at his mother's house and arrested him. He later confessed, verbally and in writing, to performing oral sex on the 12-year-old on three occasions, said Jeannette police Chief Jeffrey Stahl. Mr. Risher told investigators that he has uncontrollable urges to perform oral sex on young boys.

Mr. Risher had been living in the Wylie Avenue apartment since July 2007, even though he had told state police in December that he still lived in Hempfield.

The new charges are similar to the two incidents that landed Mr. Risher in jail the first time. In August 1992, according to police documents, Mr. Risher engaged in sex acts with a boy under the age of 16 a few doors down from his Clay Avenue residence in Jeannette. In December of that year, in Mr. Risher's own apartment, he groped a 16-year-old. In both cases, Mr. Risher gave the victims alcohol.

In April 1993, after the two cases were merged, Mr. Risher pleaded guilty to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. According to court records, he served his full 10-year sentence.

Now he is back in jail, in lieu of $100,000 bond, and will have a preliminary hearing before District Judge Joseph DeMarchis in Jeannette Thursday morning.

Chief Stahl said Mr. Risher worked at DeNunzio's Italian Restaurant in Jeannette and had no run-ins with his officers until this week.

"We have not received any other complaints or allegations," Chief Stahl said. "Lord, I hope there's no more."