A former West St. Paul police community service officer accused of stealing more than $118,000 from a child in his care has pleaded guilty to one count of felony theft by temporary control.

Roy David Bester, 34, of Apple Valley entered the guilty plea last week in Dakota County District County. His sentencing is scheduled for April 27. Three other felony theft charges filed against Bester last year were dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

Bester resigned from his part-time job with West St. Paul police June 24, 2016, after the theft allegations surfaced. He had been with the department since January 2014, working traffic enforcement and dealing with city code violations, among other duties.

According to a criminal complaint:

Bester was a legal guardian for a girl who was receiving Social Security payments totaling about $1,200 a month.

Apple Valley police received a report in November 2015 that money was missing from the girl’s savings account, where the payments were being deposited for her planned college expenses. The girl’s great-grandmother opened the account in December 2011 and deposited about $72,000 of the girl’s money.

A fraud analyst from the state Department of Commerce examined the girl’s account and found a pattern of money being transferred into Bester’s checking account between December 2011 and February 2015, when her account dried up.

The analyst determined that Bester transferred nearly $67,000 into his account.

Another $8,500 went to pay for Bester’s boat loan, while $34,000 was withdrawn from the girl’s account through checks or debit transactions. Nearly $10,000 in withdrawals could not be tracked but were signed for by Bester.

Bester told investigators that the child was “expensive and that he spent all the money on her,” the complaint read.

Bester’s attorney Paul Rogosheske said Monday that Bester became the legal guardian of the girl after her father died. Bester used some of the girl’s money to pay off debts, but did replace it afterward, Rogosheske said.

The theft charge carries a maximum prison sentence of up to five years.