A 39-year-old man pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison Wednesday for a rash of gropings in La Palma two years ago.
James Richard Carter pleaded guilty to a count of a forcible lewd act on a child and a lewd act on a child 14 or 15, both felonies, as well as three misdemeanor counts of touching an intimate part of a victim.
Carter grabbed and inappropriately touched one girl and three women in a burst of five to 10 minutes along a walking trail in the 7600 block of Furman Road about 2 p.m. Jan. 25, 2022, La Palma police said two years ago.
Carter also grabbed the buttocks of a 14-year-old girl walking on a sidewalk about 8 a.m. Sept. 10, 2021, in the 7500 block of Valley View Street, police said.