August 26, 1938: An officer is suspended from the force after being charged with molesting the child of a neighbor (an LAPD detective) and is accused of trying to kill the family by digging a tunnel that police say could have been used to set off an explosion.

The officer said his attorney told him to dig the tunnel so he could plant bugging equipment to see if the child was being coached by the parents. The officer was convicted of molestation in 1938.

He was granted a retrial on appeal in 1939, but The Times did not report the outcome.

Also: A judge finds The Times guilty of contempt for editorials on pending court cases: The Douglas strike, the Helen Werner case and the “goon squad case” (a labor dispute) as well as two editorials about a committee of the Los Angeles Bar Assn.

In sports, here’s a deck worth noting: “Hollywood curvist shuts out Seraphs by 5-0 score.” The curvist is Wayne Osborne of the Hollywood Stars, who threw a shutout against the Los Angeles Angels in the “Civil War series.”

UCLA prepares for the beginning of football practice in September …  “South Gate jitterbug jockey” Bob Swanson wins a 50-lap midget car race at Gilmore Stadium.

And the New York State Racing Commission suspends groom Raymond Smith to investigate allegations that he drugged racehorses at Saratoga.