MARTINEZ >> A California Highway Patrol officer accused of stealing nude photos of in-custody female DUI suspects from their phones told investigators that he and his fellow officers have been trading such images for years in a practice that stretches from its Los Angeles office to his own Dublin station, according to court documents obtained by the Contra Costa Times on Friday.

CHP Officer Sean Harrington, 35, of Martinez confessed to stealing explicit photos from two Contra Costa County DUI suspects without their permission and forwarding images to at least two other CHP officers. The five-year CHP veteran called it a “game” among officers, according to an Oct. 14 search warrant affidavit.

Harrington told investigators he had done the same thing to female arrestees a “half dozen times in the last several years,” according to the court records, which included graphic text messages between Harrington and his Dublin CHP colleague Officer Robert Hazelwood.

Contra Costa County prosecutors are investigating and say the conduct of the officers — none of whom have been charged so far — could compromise any criminal cases in which they are witnesses. CHP officials would confirm only that they have placed one of their officers on desk duty — apparently Harrington, although they would not name him.

CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow said in a statement that his agency too has “active and open investigations,” and cited a similar case several years ago in Los Angeles involving a pair of officers.

“The allegations anger and disgust me,” Farrow said. “We expect the highest levels of integrity and moral strength from everyone in the California Highway Patrol and there is no place in our organization for such behavior,” Farrow said.

“There was an incident several years ago in Los Angeles involving somewhat similar conduct and we fired one officer and the other resigned in the middle of the investigation,” he said. “This alleged behavior does not reflect the professionalism of the thousands of members of the California Highway Patrol who pledge to provide the best in safety, service, and security to the people of California. We expect so much more, and so does the public.”

Earlier Friday, officials at Los Angeles County offices sought to distance themselves from the scandal.

“It’s just one guy’s statement,” said Sgt. Jose Nunez, spokesman for the CHP Southern Division. “Officers who I work with don’t do it.”

Nunez could not say whether investigators have contacted local officers.

Rick Madsen, the Danville attorney for the 23-year-old San Ramon woman who was the first to report Harrington, said the implications of the case are “far-reaching and very damaging.”

“The callousness and depravity with which these officers communicated about my client is dehumanizing, horribly offensive and degrading to all women,” he said. “It’s going to lead to another level of mistrust and skepticism to the motive of law enforcement in general.”

The San Ramon woman’s DUI case has already been dismissed because of the investigation into Harrington’s conduct. Deputy District Attorney Barry Grove said he expects a decision about charges against officers in the CHP probe to be made next week.

In the search warrant affidavit, senior Contra Costa District Attorney inspector Darryl Holcombe wrote that he found probable cause to show both CHP officers Harrington and Hazelwood and others engaged in a “scheme to unlawfully access the cell phone of female arrestees by intentionally gaining access to their cell phone and without their knowledge, stealing and retaining nude or partially clothed photographs of them.” That behavior constitutes felony computer theft, the affidavit said.

As the Contra Costa Times first reported, Holcombe wrote in an earlier search warrant that Harrington allegedly forwarded explicit photos of a 23-year-old San Ramon woman from her phone to his own personal phone during a DUI arrest. The woman, referred to as Jane Doe in court documents, only discovered the theft five days after her release, tipped off because her iPad was synced to her iPhone, and she noticed the mysterious photo texts to an unknown phone number. Holcombe, using video surveillance and time-stamped text messages from the woman’s phone, determined Harrington was in possession of the woman’s phone at the moment the photos were forwarded. The woman — who registered a blood alcohol level of .29 percent, more than three times the legal limit — was being processed in the Martinez County Jail early Aug. 29 when the photos were stolen, according to court records.

Investigators first confronted Harrington on Oct. 10 and advised him a woman had made a complaint that her personal property was stolen. He voluntarily agreed to be interviewed. During questioning, Harrington admitted to stealing five photographs from Jane Doe (investigators have said there were six) and that he forwarded at least one to Hazelwood, according to court records.

“Harrington said he first learned of this scheme when he was working in the Los Angeles Office,” Holcombe wrote. “Harrington said when he was assigned to the Dublin Office, he learned from other Officers that they would access the cell phones of female arrestees and look for nude photographs of them. Harrington said if photographs were located, the officers would then text the photographs to other sworn members of the office, and, to non-CHP individuals.”

In Southern California, Harrington worked for the CHP’s Altadena field office around 2008 or 2009, according to the office manager there. CHP officials declined to release the dates of his Los Angeles-area employment. Three officers at the Altadena office said Friday that they didn’t work with Harrington.

“It was a long time ago,” said Lt. Tony Pena.

The new court documents describe a second incident in which a 19-year-old woman, referred to as Jane Doe No. 2, was involved in a DUI crash in Livermore on Aug. 7. On Harrington’s phone, Holcombe located two photos of that DUI suspect in a bikini accompanied by a text message from the day of the arrest from Harrington to Hazelwood: “Taken from the phone of my 10-15x while she’s in X-rays. Enjoy buddy!!!”

A “10-15x” is CHP code for in custody female and the woman may have been at a hospital to take X-rays after the crash.

Hazelwood replies: “No … nudes?”

Shortly after sending to Hazelwood, Harrington sends another Dublin CHP Officer Dion Simmons the bikini photos with the same message indicating they were of a female arrestee. Simmons texts back “Nice” and “Hahahaaaa” and Harrington replies: “Just rerun a favor down the road buddy. :)”

Holcombe also detailed Aug. 29 text messages between Harrington and Hazelwood discussing the six photos he allegedly forwarded of the first Jane Doe in various states of undress, including one with a friend in the photo.

Hazelwood asked to see her “dl,” possibly referring to her driver’s license photo and Harrington texted back: “When we get back to office. And we’ll have MDF (county jail) mug shot too.”

The pair continued the text back-and-forth, commenting on her “rocking” body and breasts.

On Oct. 10, after Harrington spoke to investigators, Hazelwood’s supervisor ordered him to report to the DA’s Office. Shortly after entering the interview room, Hazelwood was advised it was a criminal investigation and he could leave at any time. He got up and exited the room.

But as he was leaving, Holcombe — who said he worried Hazelwood would delete evidence from his phone after the meeting — noticed a bulge in the CHP officer’s back pocket and asked if he could see his cell-phone. Hazelwood asked if he had a search warrant, and Holcombe said he did not, but told the officer he will keep the phone while obtaining one. Hazelwood initially consented to the search, but refused to sign the consent form, the investigator wrote.

Four days later, investigators got the warrant and found the text messages between Hazelwood and Harrington and photos of Jane Doe No. 2 on Hazelwood’s Samsung Galaxy S5, according to the records.

Holcombe wrote he is part of an “investigative team” assigned to probe Harrington, Hazelwood and “others.”

Los Angeles News Group Staff Writer Mike Reicher contributed to this report.