OC District Attorney Seeks Public's Help Identifying Additional Child Victims

Law Enforcement is Seeking Help Identifying Potential Victims of CEO Charged with Sexual Assault and Child Pornography.

January 23, 2015 – The Orange County District Attorney's Office issued a press release today seeking the help of the public in identifying any minors who were victims of Qayed Murtaza Shareef, the CEO of a publicly traded company based in Irvine. Today Shareef was charged with the following:

• 30 felony counts of lewd acts with a child under 14
• 1 felony count of using a minor for sex acts
• 1 felony count of distributing pornography to a minor
• 1 felony count of possession or control of child pornography

Shareef also faces sentencing enhancement for substantial sexual conduct with a child under 14 years old and committing lewd acts upon multiple victims. His bail is set at $2 million and arraignment is scheduled for this afternoon at Central Jail in Santa Ana, CA.

Shareef is accused of using the online app Tango to contact a 10-year-old male victim and a 9-year-old male victim; both victims reside in Virginia. Shareef set up the Tango account under the fake name Jeremy Stevens.

The investigation is ongoing, and authorities encourage anyone with additional information or who believes that they or a loved one have been a victim of Qayed Murtaza Shareef to contact either of the following individuals:

• OCSD Sgt. Wade Walsviek – (714) 647-7418
• Supervising District Attorney Investigator Kelly Core – (714) 347-8794

View the Press Release from the Orange County District Attorney's Office for more information.