SANTA ANA - An Irvine police officer who was fired after an internal affairs probe into allegations of sexually assaulting an exotic dancer during a traffic stop was acquitted Friday of criminal charges stemming from the encounter.

A jury of 11 men and one woman deliberated for about five and a half hours over two days before finding David Park, 31, not guilty of the three felony charges of sexual battery, sexual battery by restraint and sexual penetration by foreign object by threatening to use the authority of a public official.

Park was also acquitted of seven other "lesser included" misdemeanor offenses that the jury could have settled on as alternatives to the harsher charges.

The former officer could have faced nearly 10 years in prison had he been convicted of all counts, and would have had to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, Deputy District Attorney Shaddi Kamiabipour.

Park, now working in construction, was surrounded by family members outside the courtroom after the verdicts. He said he was "very happy. Everybody's very happy," but he declined to comment further.

Kamiabipour conceded that she and defense attorney Allan Stokke gave starkly opposite versions of events that took place in the early morning hours of Dec. 15, 2004.

Kamiabipour said Park - who had stopped the woman six months earlier and later called her for a date but had no further contact with her - took advantage of her fear of going to jail for driving without a license while on probation for DUI.

Kamiabipour told jurors that the woman, referred to in court as Lucy A., also downed two drinks before leaving Captain Cream's, which also increased her fear of arrest.

Kamiabipour said Park followed the woman - who was 32 years old at the time - from the Lake Forest club to a lonely stretch of Laguna Canyon Road and began "rubbing" against her after she got out of the car.

Park then unbuttoned his pants and placed his penis in her hand, Kamiabipour alleged. He also grabbed the woman's breast and used a finger to sexually penetrate her, the prosecutor said.

Afterward, she called a friend, who advised her to report the incident to authorities and to talk to a lawyer, the prosecutor said. About 90 minutes after the alleged sexual assault, she called the Laguna Beach Police Department, Kamiabipour said.

Outside the courtroom, Kamiabipour said she did not want to speculate as to why the panel rejected the prosecution's case.

"In the District Attorney's Office we have to hold people responsible for their behavior," Kamiabipour said. "We clearly believed (Lucy), which is why we prosecuted this case."

Asked if Lucy's work at the time played a role in the jury's decision, Kamiabipour said, "I'd like to think that's not the case."

The prosecutor said the woman had only worked at the club part-time and now works at a software company.

Stokke did not deny that sexual conduct occurred that night, but said Lucy initiated it. In order for it to be criminal in nature, he said, it would have to be against her will.

He said the District Attorney's Office "overcharged" the case, and that the most Park should have faced was accepting a gratuity, a misdemeanor.

Stokke alleged that Lucy was less than truthful when she testified.

By contrast, he said, his client's testimony contained "no prior inconsistencies."

"He was forthright," Stokke said.

Park was embarrassed, Stokke said, especially for what he put his family through.

Stokke said he did not know if his client could ever get another job as an officer.

"He would like to be," Stokke said.

Stokke told jurors that the woman's attorney filed a $10 million claim against the city of Irvine, which later cut a check for $400,000.

He said outside the courtroom that, according to evidence at trial, she got $275,000 of the settlement.

Park was initially suspended with pay, and he left the department on Feb. 15, 2005, after an internal affairs investigation, Irvine police Chief David Maggard said earlier.

The chief could not be reached for immediate comment.