A former Orange County sheriff’s deputy facing criminal charges of child pornography possession and violating a restraining order faces a request by his ex-girlfriend to extend the restraining order indefinitely next week, according to court records obtained Thursday.
Fernando Melo Flores, 40, of Irvine, was charged April 10 with possession of child pornography and computer access and fraud, both felonies, as well as a misdemeanor count of contempt of court for disobeying a court order.
Prosecutors allege Flores, who was assigned to John Wayne Airport, illegally accessed a law enforcement database to gather information about his ex-girlfriend’s boyfriend.
The restraining order request from the defendant’s ex-girlfriend contains explosive allegations such as molestation of a family member when she was 8.
Flores’ attorney in the family law case, Lew Rosenblum, declined comment.
Flores’ ex-girlfriend said she dated him between January 2021 through February 2024, according to court papers. The two did not speak after their breakup until July of 2024, she said.
The woman said he was “stalking” her TikTok account and when she pointed out to him she noticed that he “confessed his unfaithfulness” in their relationship, which led to a “civil conversation,” she said.
The woman said he “openly admitted to me that he indeed molest(ed) (the family member)” and when confronted about it by family sometime between 2018-2020 he “threatened to take his life with his firearm,” she alleged.
She also claimed that Flores put a GPS tracker on another girlfriend’s vehicle.
She also alleged that he was accused by another family member of molesting him after a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert and that he himself was molested as a child.
“After discovering all of these awful things about Fernando Flores I was in shock, disgusted and overwhelmed,” she said. “I didn’t feel threatened at the time. I felt I dodged a bullet and wished Fernando well.”
In August 2025, she said Flores woke her up with multiple calls to her, so she called him back thinking it was an emergency.
“When I answered Fernando began to say that he loves me, he missed me and made a big mistake,” she said. “I knew Fernando was highly intoxicated and told him not to call me and hung up.”
But Flores “continued to harass me by calling and texting me,” so she shut down her phone and returned to bed, she said.
Flores showed up at her door about 2:35 a.m. Aug. 23, 2025, “ringing the door bell and banging on my door consistently until I opened it,” she said.
He said he “missed her,” prompting her to ask him to leave and not come back, she said.
The woman said she feared for her life and the life of her live-in boyfriend, who also filed a restraining order request, but did not follow up and it was dismissed.
“I feel unsafe, I feel like I’m being watched,” she said. “I feel Fernando is obsessed with me and it’s very unsettling.”
The woman also said Flores was a “responder to the Trabuco Canyon shooting” referring to the Aug. 23, 2023, mass shooting at Cook’s Corner where three were killed and six wounded before ex-Ventura police officer John Snowling was fatally shot by officers.