UPDATE, OCT. 9, 11:31 A.M.: Mrs. Orange County 2014 Meghan Breanna Alt could be sentenced to more than 14 years in state prison and a lifetime of sex offender registration if she is convicted of the charges leveled against her this morning by the Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA). A statement on the 25-year-old San Clemente resident's arraignment some time today shows Alt is charged 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.
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If convicted of those counts, Alt faces a maximum sentenced of 14 years and eight months in state prison and mandatory lifetime sex offender registration, according to the OCDA, which adds it will request bail be set at $100,000 during arraignment at the Central Jail in Santa Ana. Prosecutors publicized more details that were not disclosed since Alt's arrest Wednesday in San Diego County:
* Between this past Jan. 1–which was seven months after Alt competed as Mrs. Orange County in the Mrs. California-America pageant and during the time she had access to children as a youth volunteer at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in San Clemente and Irvine–and Oct. 7, she allegedly took photographs of her 4-year-old female relative in sexually explicit poses.
* Alt allegedly used her cell phone to distribute the photos of the pre-schooler in exchange for money and gifts. (As reported in the original post, Alt is accused of sending the photos to a Marine stationed in Southern California.)
* Besides the Orange County Sheriff's Department Special Victims Unit and Orange County Crimestoppers (also as outlined in the original post), tips about the case can be called in to Supervising District Attorney Investigator Mark Gutierrez at 714.347.8794.
Mark Selby, deputy special agent in charge for Homeland Securities Investigations (HSI) in Los Angeles, says the case against Alt shows “dirty old men” are not the only people tied up in child pornography. “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,” Selby says. “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.”
Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens used the case against Alt to praise the task force, which is comprised of members from her department, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's HSI, the FBI, Newport Beach Police Department, Huntington Beach Police Department, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The task force investigates Internet-related crimes against children as well as crimes involving the possession and distribution of child porn. “This investigation and subsequent arrest demonstrates the successful partnerships between local and federal law enforcement,” Hutchens said. “It is through these collaborative efforts that sex offenders and other egregious criminals are arrested and forced to answer for their actions.”
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ORIGINAL POST, OCT. 9, 6:07 A.M.: Meghan Breanna Alt, the 2014 Mrs. Orange County and contestant in that year's Mrs. California-America pageant, is due in court this morning to face charges of allegedly making and selling pornography of a four-year-old female relative. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations and the Orange County Sheriff's Department, whose officers arrested the 25-year-old Irvine San Clemente wife and mother Wednesday, are not specifying the exact relationship between her and the child because the identity of a minor victim of a crime, and especially sexual crimes, is protected.
However, online photography and social media websites dedicated to the recent birth of Alt's son include shots of a girl who could be 4.
Investigators with the multi-agency Orange County Child Exploitation Task Force received evidence from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service that Alt distributed sexually explicit images electronically to a Marine stationed in Southern California in exchange for cash and gifts, according to Lt. Jeff Hallock, the Orange County sheriff's spokesman.
It is also believed Alt advertised services online which many times resulted in an exchange of sex for money–and often with her children present, Hallock said.
She was taken into custody after a noon traffic stop in San Diego County, where it is alleged Alt confessed to several allegations of production and electronic distribution of child pornography involving the 4-year-old family member, Hallock said.
Alt was booked into Orange County Jail on suspicion of production and distribution of child pornography and lewd and lascivious conduct with a child, said Hallock, adding she was being held on $100,000 bail.
Additional charges could come if new evidence emerges alleging Alt preyed on other children. Besides being part of the beauty pageant circuit, she has been involved with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in San Clemente and Irvine, where it is believed she assisted with and monitored young children as a church volunteer, Hallock said.
Anyone with information regarding additional victims is asked to call the Orange County Sheriff's Department's Special Victim's Unit at 714.647.7418 or 714.647.7000. Anonymous tips may be left with Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855.847.6227 (855-TIP-OCCS), via occrimestoppers.org or by texting to 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S) from a cell phone. (All text messages should begin with the letters “OCCS”.)
Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.