Orange County man sentenced to 12 years in prison for using social media to entice minors into committing lewd acts

SANTA ANA, Calif. – A former information technology specialist for Boeing in Seal Beach was sentenced to 12 years in state prison Monday following a multiagency probe involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) that revealed he used social media to contact minors and entice them into committing lewd acts.

Michael Theodore Mordaunt, 47, of Cypress, pleaded guilty to 19 felony counts of contacting a child with the intent to commit a specified crime, five felony counts of lewd acts upon a child age 14 or 15, two felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under 14, three felony counts of meeting a minor with the intent to engage in lewd conduct, one felony count of possession and control of child pornography, and a sentencing enhancement allegation for substantial sexual conduct with a child. In addition to prison, Mordaunt was also sentenced to mandatory lifetime sex offender registration.

At the time of the crime, Mordaunt was working in the information technology department of the Boeing Company in Seal Beach.

Between Feb. 25, 2009 and Jan. 15, 2014, Mordaunt created several MySpace and Facebook accounts using the image of a young teenage boy who is surfing. Mordaunt contacted minor girls, primarily between the ages of 12 and 16 years old, with the intent to commit lewd acts on the victims. He contacted minor Jane Does using these social networking websites, as well as through text messages and phone calls. Mordaunt had sexually explicit conversations with the victims and attempted to meet them. He also requested and received sexually explicit pictures from several of them. On multiple occasions, Mordaunt committed lewd acts on multiple Jane Does.

In 2013, the Cypress and Garden Grove police departments began separate investigations related to this case. Additional agencies ultimately became involved, including the Anaheim, La Palma, Los Alamitos, and Seal Beach police departments, along with the HSI-led, multiagency Orange County Child Exploitation Task Force.

Deputy District Attorney Bobby Taghavi of the Sexual Assault Unit prosecuted this case.