Case # 15HF1167
Date: October 9, 2015
LAW ENFORCEMENT SEEKS PUBLIC’S HELP IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL ADDITIONAL VICTIMS OF FORMER MRS. ORANGE COUNTY CHARGED WITH DISTRIBUTING CHILD PORNOGRAPHY OF 4-YEAR-OLD GIRL
SANTA ANA, Calif. – The Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA), Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) are seeking the public’s help identifying potential additional victims of a former Mrs. Orange County pageant contestant charged with possessing and distributing child pornography of a 4-year-old girl, who is a relative. Meghan Breanna Alt, 25, Irvine, was charged today with one felony count of possession and control of child pornography, three felony counts of lewd act upon a child under 14, and a sentencing enhancement allegation for substantial sexual conduct with a child. If convicted, Alt faces a maximum sentence of 14 years and eight months in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration. The People will request she be held on $100,000 bail at her arraignment today, Oct. 9, 2015, in Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana. The time is to be determined.
In June 2014, Alt competed as Mrs. Orange County in the Mrs. California-America pageant. At the time of the crime, the defendant was a church youth volunteer at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in San Clemente and Irvine, and had access to children.
Between Jan. 1, 2015, and Oct. 7, 2015, Alt is accused of taking photographs 4-year-old Jane Doe in sexually explicit poses. The defendant is accused of using her cell phone to distribute the photos of Jane Doe in exchange for money and gifts. Alt is accused of sending the photos to a Marine stationed in Southern California.
At approximately noon on Oct. 7, 2015, Orange County Child Exploitation Task Force (OCCETF) investigators conducted a traffic stop on Alt as she was driving in San Diego County and arrested her.
OCSD, HSI, and OCCETF investigated this case after receiving information about the crime from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
“This investigation and subsequent arrest demonstrates the successful partnerships between local and federal law enforcement,” said Orange County Sheriff-Coroner Sandra Hutchens. “It is through these collaborative efforts that sex offenders and other egregious criminals are arrested and forced to answer for their actions.”
“Since its inception four years ago, the Orange County Child Exploitation Task Force has identified and brought to justice hundreds of suspected sexual predators and the public would undoubtedly be surprised by diversity of the defendants,” said Mark Selby, deputy special agent in charge for HSI in Los Angeles. “As this case underscores, the suspects in these cases come from all walks of life. The stereotype that such crimes are perpetrated exclusively by ‘dirty old men’ simply doesn’t apply.”
OCCETF is comprised of members from HSI, OCSD, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Newport Beach Police Department, Huntington Beach Police Department, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service, assigned to investigate Internet-related crimes against children as well as crimes involving the possession and distribution of child pornography.
The investigation in this case is ongoing. Anyone with additional information or who believes that they may have been a victim is encouraged to contact the OCSD Special Victims Unit at (714) 647-7418 or Supervising District Attorney Investigator Mark Gutierrez at (714) 347-8794.
Deputy District Attorney Michael Carroll of the Sexual Assault Unit is prosecuting this case.