Officer Charged With Possession of Child Porno : LAPD: Investigator in sex crimes unit is accused of having material allegedly stolen from locked police files.

A veteran officer in the Los Angeles Police Department’s Juvenile Division was arrested Wednesday on charges of possessing child pornography that was allegedly stolen from locked police case files, authorities said.

Investigators discovered a “quantity of photos, magazines and videotapes” at the Granada Hills home of Officer Walter Ray Bentley Jr., said Officer Linda Ramm of the department’s Juvenile Division.

Bentley surrendered to authorities after Municipal Judge Elva Soper issued a warrant for his arrest. Commissioner John Ladner released Bentley, 46, on his own recognizance despite the protests from the district attorney’s office, which requested bail be set at $10,000.

Sources said Bentley, a 22-year LAPD veteran, was most recently assigned to the department’s Sexually Exploited Child Unit, which investigates cases involving pedophiles and the child pornography industry. The same unit also investigated Bentley.

Police sources said the arrest came after a lengthy investigation into allegations that Bentley was stealing confidential information from Police Department computer files and selling it to a private detective agency.

Bentley’s home was searched twice this month in connection with the investigation, police sources said. In one of the searches, police discovered the child pornography and $100,000 in cash in a floor safe.

A source familiar with the case said the investigation had been under way for six months. Police spokesman Lt. John Dunkin said the investigation is continuing.

Darryl Mounger, an attorney representing Bentley, declined to comment.

Bentley was charged Wednesday with one felony count of receiving stolen property and one misdemeanor count of “possession or control of child pornography.” State law makes it a crime to possess material “depicting a person under the age of 14 engaging in or simulating sexual conduct.”

Times staff writer Jim Newton contributed to this story.