Police search for victims of suspected online sexual predator

Authorities are looking for more victims of an Orange County man suspected of using fake online profiles to lure girls as young as 12 into meeting him for sexual encounters or sending him explicit photos.

Michael Theodore Mordaunt, 45, is suspected of using a picture of a teenage boy surfing when he set up accounts on Myspace and Facebook.

He then used the social networks to contact girls between 12 and 16 years old, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s office.

For about five years, starting in February 2009, Mordaunt contacted multiple victims with the intent of sexually abusing them, according to the Orange County district attorney’s office.

Mordaunt is suspected of then having sexual conversations with the girls online or through phone calls and text messages.

In some cases he convinced them to send him explicit photos or to meet with him, according to the district attorney.

Mordaunt, a Cypress resident, worked in the information technology department at Boeing in Seal Beach at the time.

The district attorney’s office has charged him with 24 felonies related to sexual abuse including five counts of lewd acts upon a child, two counts of lewd acts upon a child under 14 and two counts of meeting a minor with the intent to engage in lewd conduct.

The charges also include a sentencing enhancement for substantial sexual conduct with a child.

If convicted, Mordaunt could face up to 27 years and four months in state prison and be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Mordaunt is free on $300,000 bail and is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges Monday in Orange County Superior Court.

The district attorney’s office asked that anyone who may be a victim contact Supervising District Attorney Investigator Paul Carvo at (714) 347-8794, Garden Grove police Det. Dave Young at (714) 741-5836 or Cypress police Det. Deanna Hartman at (714) 229-3391.