Behind the Badge
An information technology specialist accused of using social media to lure young teen and pre-teen girls for sex was ordered by an Orange County Superior Court judge Monday to stay off the Internet and have no contact with minors.
Michael Theodore Mordaunt, 45, who faces more than 27 years in prison as well as life registration as a sex offender if convicted of two dozen felonies, spent about an hour flipping through a Westways travel magazine before his case was called and he entered a not-guilty plea before Judge John S. Adams at the West Justice Center in Westminster.
Wearing a white collared shirt and gray dress slacks, Mordaunt agreed to return to court for a pre-trial hearing Aug. 29 and surrender his passport.
Adams declined a request by Deputy District Attorney Bobby Taghavi that Mordaunt wear a GPS monitoring device while he remains out of custody on $300,000 bail.
An amended complaint filed Monday listed two addition victims in a case initially investigated by the Garden Grove and Cypress Police departments. The case has turned into a joint investigation with help from the Anaheim, La Palma, Los Alamitos and Seal Beach Police departments, the Orange County Child Exploitation Task Force, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
Mordaunt, whose wife and two children live in Cypress, is accused of creating several Myspace and Facebook accounts using the image of a young teenage boy surfing to lure girls for sex, according to a news release from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Since he was arrested July 17 and subsequently charged, Mordaunt has moved into his parents’ home in Fullerton, his attorney said in court Monday.
Mordaunt is charged with crimes dating back to February 2009 that include 14 felony counts of contacting a child with the intent to commit a specified crime, five felony counts of lewd acts upon a child, two felony counts of lewd acts upon a child under 14, two 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.
According to the DA news release, Mordaunt is accused of creating the sham social media pages to contact girls primarily between the ages of 12 and 16 years old. He also preyed on his victims through text messages and phone calls, according to the news release.
Mordaunt is accused of having sexually explicit conversations or attempting to meet with the victims, and also is accused of requesting and receiving sexually explicit pictures from several victims.
On multiple occasions, Mordaunt is accused of committing lewd acts on more than one girl.
The investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with additional information or who believes they have been a victim is encouraged to contact Supervising District Attorney Investigator Paul Carvo at (714) 347-8794 or GGPD Detective Dave Young at (714) 741-5836, or CPD Detective Deanna Hartman at (714) 229-3391.
The public is encouraged to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through the toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DGS-2-ICE. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children also may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.
