Sacramento police arrested a county juvenile dependency court referee Wednesday on suspicion of trying to entice underage girls to strip for an adult magazine.

According to documents expected to be filed in court today, Juvenile Dependency Court Referee Daniel Madden Horton likely will be charged with two misdemeanor counts of engaging in conduct "motivated by an unnatural or abnormal sexual interest in a child."

He also will be charged with another misdemeanor of attempting to arrange a meeting with a woman he thought was a minor for the purpose of engaging in lewd and lascivious conduct.

Horton, 47, was booked into the downtown jail at 5:05 p.m. Wednesday but had been released by 7:30 p.m. He could not be reached for comment.

A court spokeswoman said he resigned over the weekend from his job as a juvenile dependency court referee at the William R. Ridgeway Family Relations Courthouse.

The dependency court is a Superior Court adjunct that "hears cases involving neglected and/or abused children under 18 years of age," according to the court website.

Police spokesman Sgt. Andrew Petite confirmed Horton's arrest Wednesday evening.

Horton is scheduled for arraignment on March 5.

No charges had been filed on Horton as of Wednesday, but the documents obtained by The Bee showed he is likely to be charged on the three misdemeanor counts stemming from a Sacramento police decoy operation earlier this month.

The documents police detectives submitted to the DA's office say that Horton tried to lure the two undercover decoys into stripping for Oui Magazine photos. The documents said the women told Horton they were 17, but he persisted asking them to pose nude. Both were monitored as part of a police surveillance.

The documents say police began investigating Horton Nov. 5 after they were contacted by a female who worked at a tanning salon. She said Horton in December 2010 told her she could make $600 for nude photo shoots, according to the police case summary for the DA's office.

The girl said she told Horton she was only 17. The documents said she agreed to model a bathing suit for him and that she consented to exposing her breasts to him.

When she declined his request to remove her bathing suit bottom, she said he pulled it down himself, according to the case summary.

Police then set up the decoy operation on Feb. 2, the documents said. Horton then made contact with the two women that resulted in the allegations expected to be filed in court today.

The two women identified as Ashley Doe and Amber Doe said they gave their ages to Horton as 17, even though Amber was 20 and Ashley was 18, the documents stated.

In one incident, at 12:15 p.m. on a Thursday outside a pizza shop, Horton approached Amber Doe and eventually asked her if she was interested in having nude photos taken of her. She said she was not and Horton left her alone, the papers said.

At 2:20 p.m. at the corner of Folsom Boulevard and Bradshaw Road, Horton made a similar offer to Ashley Doe, the summary said. She had been standing on the street and told Horton she was waiting for a friend. When she expressed interest in having the pictures taken, Horton gave her his phone number, the documents said.

While under police surveillance, Horton then drove around the area and contacted two Rancho Cordova police officers, the summary said. Horton told the officers he worked in Juvenile Court and informed them that a prostitute was in the area and that somebody had been contacting her and asking if she would be willing to have nude pictures taken for $600, the documents said.

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