Fair Officials Beefing Up Security for This Year’s Run : Safety: The move is in response to problems last year, including molestation of some children in a haunted house by a carnival worker and a roller coaster accident.

Responding to a series of mishaps that marred last year’s Orange County Fair, officials plan to beef up security, more closely monitor carnival rides and perform drug tests on some of the hundreds of temporary employees who staff booths and attractions during the annual festival.

The new safety measures are aimed at preventing the kinds of incidents that occurred last year, when a carnival worker fondled five children in a dark haunted house and eight people were injured in a roller coaster accident.

“We want people to know that we are not taking (the incidents) lightly. We are doing something about it,” said Jill Lloyd, spokeswoman for the fair. The new measures “say that this is a safe and fun place for the family. That is our ultimate goal.”

B & B Amusements, which operates the fair’s carnival, has decided not to bring back the haunted house where the molestations occurred.

Shawnee M e rten, business manager and marketing head for B & B, said the haunted house was removed to make way for more popular rides such as bumper cars. But Lloyd acknowledged that parents probably will feel relieved that the attraction will be gone.

Fair officials also plan to hire an additional 35 security officers for the fair, which will run from July 8 through 24. The extra staffing will bring the fairgrounds’ total private guard force to about 165, Lloyd said. Last year, the fair employed 130 security guards.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department also plans to increase its patrols at the fair, but officials have not disclosed by how much.

In addition, more non-uniformed fair workers will be assigned to walk through the carnival. The fair will also place a second guest-relations office in the carnival area.

“All this provides an extra set of eyes and ears,” Lloyd said. “It allows us to handle questions and concerns more quickly.”

The added security presence comes in response to molestations that occurred last year inside the Cactus Jack Haunted Shack, an attraction in which children walked through a series of dark narrow passageways.

Five teen-age girls reported being fondled by carnival worker Richard Allen Lee, who worked at a nearby game booth. Lee, 42, pleaded guilty to five counts of child molestation and was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Prior to his stint at the fair, Lee had been convicted of two prior counts of child molestation, prompting some to suggest that temporary fair employees be subject to criminal background checks.

Lloyd said that the fair and B & B Amusements have ruled out the idea because such investigations would be too costly and could not be completed in a timely fashion.

In many cases, background checks would require obtaining records from several law enforcement agencies in different states and might not be completed until the fair was over, she said. Instead, all B & B’s temporary carnival workers will be subject to random drug testing.

B & B officials also plan to more closely monitor the assorted carnival rides by having foremen inspect certain attractions. These “team leaders” will keep an eye on the ride operators to make sure they are taking regular breaks and working the equipment properly, Merten said.

Last year, eight people were hurt when two roller coaster cars filled with passengers crashed into an empty car, which in turn hit a car being loaded with passengers. State inspectors blamed the crash on operator error.