ORANGE COUNTY, CA — A former Orange County Sheriff's Deputy was charged with possession of child pornography and illegally accessing confidential databases to look up an ex-girlfriend, county prosecutors said Tuesday.
Fernando Melo Flores, 40, was charged with one felony count of possession of child pornography, one felony count of unauthorized computer access, and one misdemeanor count of willful disobedience of a court order.
He faces a maximum of three years and eight months in state prison and six months in the Orange County Jail, prosecutors said.
According to prosecutors, Flores formerly worked as a sheriff's deputy at John Wayne Airport.
Flores is accused of going to his ex-girlfriend's home in Aug. 23, 2025 in the middle of the night and repeatedly calling and texting her, resulting in the woman getting a temporary restraining order against the deputy.
One day after he was served the restraining order, Flores is accused of returning to the woman's home, in violation of the court order, according to Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer.
As part of the investigation, it was revealed that Flores had a number of child pornography images on his phone along with screenshots of searches of the law enforcement database with information about his ex-girlfriend, her new boyfriend, and the boyfriend's ex.
"No child should be subject to sexual abuse and to know that someone who was supposed to be protecting public safety as a sworn law enforcement officer was collecting images of child pornography like baseball cards for his own sexual gratification is beyond repulsive," Spitzer said in a statement. "The crimes carried out by a sworn deputy are a dereliction of his responsibility to his community and a disgrace to the badge and to the hardworking men and women of law enforcement who carry out their duties faithfully each and every day."
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