Former Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy Charged with Possession of Child Pornography, Illegally Accessing Confidential Law Enforcement Database to Look up Romantic Rival,[...]

Former Orange County Sheriff's Deputy Charged with Possession of
Child Pornography, Illegally Accessing Confidential
Law Enforcement Database to Look up Romantic Rival, Ex-girlfriend, and Violating a Restraining Order
Deputy was assigned to work at John Wayne Airport before he resigned while under investigation.

SANTA ANA, Calif. - A former Orange County Sheriff's deputy who was assigned to work at John Wayne Airport has been charged with possessing child pornography, illegally accessing a confidential law enforcement database to look up his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend, and violating a restraining order by showing up to his ex-girlfriend's home in the middle of the night. The deputy resigned from the Orange County Sheriff's Department while under investigation, and he is accused of committing the crimes while employed as a sworn law enforcement officer.

Fernando Melo Flores, 40, of Irvine, has been 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 sentence of three years and eight months in state prison and six months in the Orange County Jail.

On August 23, 2025, Flores is accused of going to the home of an ex-girlfriend 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 with the restraining order, Flores is accused of returning to the woman's home, in violation of the court order.

As part of the investigation, it was revealed Flores had numerous images of child pornography on his phone along with screenshots of searches of the law enforcement database CLETS with information about his ex-girlfriend, her new boyfriend, and the boyfriend's ex. Accessing CLETS for non-law enforcement purposes is a crime.

"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," said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. "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."

Senior Deputy District Attorney Sarah Rahman of the Sexual Assault Unit is prosecuting this case.

Click here for full press release.