CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / WESTMINSTER

A former Los Angeles Police Department officer pleaded guilty Tuesday in Orange County Superior Court to charges he took sexually suggestive photographs of young girls at the Garden Grove Strawberry Festival in 2007.

Ralph Cameron Lakin, 55, of La Palma pleaded guilty to eight misdemeanor counts and was sentenced to four years’ probation and 100 hours of community service. He also must register as a sex offender.

According to Orange County prosecutors, Lakin surreptitiously snapped digital pictures of nine girls, ranging in age from about 4 to 13, at the outdoor family carnival on May 26, 2007.

The officer took more than 90 such photos that morning, eventually following a 5-year-old girl to photograph her as she climbed out of a wagon in a dress. A witness alerted the girl’s father, son of former Republican Rep. Robert K. Dornan, who physically detained Lakin until police arrived.

Authorities found nearly 150 similar photos of little girls on Lakin’s home computer, including one image of a nude toddler, prosecutors said.

Lakin retired from the LAPD last February. At the time of his arrest, he worked downtown reviewing excessive force cases.

-- Susannah Rosenblatt