A former Orange County Sheriff’s deputy who worked at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana 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 at his ex-girlfriend’s home in the middle of the night.
The deputy allegedly committed the crimes while employed as a sworn law enforcement officer, and resigned from the sheriff’s department while under investigation, authorities announced in a news release on Tuesday, April 14.
Fernando Melo Flores, a 40-year-old Irvine resident, 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.
If convicted on all charges, he faces a maximum sentence of three years and eight months in state prison and six months in the Orange County Jail.
On Aug. 23, 2025, Flores allegedly went to an ex-girlfriend’s home in the middle of the night and repeatedly called and texted her, which led the woman to get a temporary restraining order from him. A day after he was served with the restraining order, Flores allegedly returned to the woman’s home, in violation of the court order, the release said.
In an investigation into Flores, numerous images of child pornography were found on his phone, as were screenshots of searches of the law enforcement database CLETS, or California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, with information about his ex-girlfriend, her new boyfriend, and the boyfriend’s ex.
It is a crime to access CLETS for non-law enforcement purposes.
“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,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said. “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.”