| In the interest of speed and timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain spelling or grammatical errors. |
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (AP) A former California Highway Patrol officer was charged Wednesday with four misdemeanor counts resulting from his alleged inappropriate sexual behavior with a minor, Kern County authorities said.
Alan Munro Bullman, 36, of Bakersfield, faces four counts of annoying or molesting a child under the age of 18, according to the Kern County Sheriff's Department.
Bail has been set at $5,000.
Sheriff's department Commander Steve Del Tour said Bullman was not taken into custody.
``He's been very cooperative with our detectives ... and we don't normally clog up our jails with misdemeanors,'' Del Tour said.
He said the charges stem from incidents where Bullman made alleged ``attempts at fondling.''
``Unfortunately, if I gave more details about what happened, it could run the risk of disclosing the identity of the victim,'' he said.
Del Tour said none of the alleged incidents occurred while Bullman was on duty.
Bullman was a California Highway Patrol officer in the Bakersfield area until he resigned on Sept. 26, CHP spokesman Tim Marshall said.
Marshall said Bullman was placed on administrative leave with pay on Sept. 24 when the agency's internal affairs division learned of the investigation.
Bullman had been with the CHP for seven years.
An area school contacted authorities on Sept. 12 to report that a female student claimed to have been a victim of inappropriate sexual conduct, Del Tour said.
An investigation by the sheriff's department identified Bullman as the suspect.