Santa Ana 'Detective Of The Year' Charged In Child Sex Sting: OCDA

SANTA ANA, CA — A Santa Ana police detective was charged with sending graphic messages to a civilian decoy pretending to be a 14-year-old girl, the Orange County District Attorney's office reported Tuesday.

Gregory Daniel Beaumarchais, 43, was charged with one misdemeanor count of annoying or molesting a victim believed to be under the age of 18. He is accused of engaging in some of the communication while on duty.

He faces a maximum sentence of one year in the Orange County Jail. If convicted, Beaumarchais must also register as a sex offender.

Beaumarchais was put on administrative leave before he turned himself into authorities Tuesday. He has been a member of the Santa Ana Police Department since 2011.

The investigation initially began when the decoy reached out to OC Crime Stoppers to notify them of the messages that were being sent by someone claiming to be a 45-year-old police officer. Beaumarchais is accused of sending graphic messages with the decoy between December 2021 and January of this year.

After access to the officer's social media platform was cut off, authorities said Beaumarchais is accused of creating another account under a similar social media handle.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security assisted the police department in the investigation, authorities said.

“Police officers are entrusted with the sacred responsibility to safeguard society from harm. It is beyond disturbing that a sworn police officer would engage in inappropriate conversations with someone he believed to be a child," Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said. "Our children should not have to worry about being preyed upon by the very people we teach them who are there to protect them. The vast majority of police officers are the trusted authority figures we expect them to be and when an officer engages in criminal behavior it tarnishes the badge of all of our hardworking law enforcement officers.”