Teen Pleads Guilty to Molestation
An Irvine youth pleaded guilty Wednesday to molesting two girls at a Laguna Niguel pizza parlor and kidnapping and molesting a third girl at a Laguna Niguel bookstore.
Drew David Lambert, 17, was to be tried as an adult in Orange County Superior Court but entered the guilty pleas just before jury selection in the case. Lambert could face a prison sentence of 25 years to life.
Investigators tracked Lambert by fingerprints left on a children’s book he used in August 1995 to lure a 6-year-old girl into a restroom at the Super Crown Bookstore in Laguna Niguel, according to Sheriff’s Department spokesman Lt. Ron Wilkerson.
The fingerprints found on the copy of “The Ultimate Dog Book” were matched to Lambert’s prints on file in the Cal-ID system, a statewide database used to track criminals and suspects. Lambert was in the system after an earlier molestation arrest in which the charges were later dropped, Wilkerson said.
After his arrest, Lambert told investigators he had also molested two girls, ages 6 and 7, at Ballpark Pizza in December 1994, officials said. He was later linked to a 1994 attempted child molestation in Irvine. On Wednesday, he also pleaded guilty to the latter crime.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 2.
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