CEO of Irvine company facing child sex charges

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) -- A CEO of an Irvine company is facing child sex charges, and investigators say they're looking for other possible victims.

Prosecutors allege Qayed Shareef, 39, pretended to be a teenage boy named Jeremy Stevens when he used an app called Tango to contact a 9- and 10-year-old boy, two brothers in Virginia.

"He basically just started it off, 'Hey what's your age?' And within an hour, took it sexual," said prosecutor Vanessa Woods. "He sent photos and videos of himself, as well as pornographic videos."

Authorities say the 39-year-old then gave instructions to the boys to record each other and to him send the photos and videos.

"He was very specifically asking them to do various sexual positions, acts, show sexual body parts," Woods said.

Prosecutors say the crimes allegedly started Christmas Day 2013 and lasted four days. Investigators discovered 30 different videos of sex acts after being contacted by the boy's mother.

Shareef is married, has a child and lives in Aliso Viejo. He is the CEO of Adaptive Media and describes himself online as an "experienced digital advertising executive."

His arrest this week came after a year of investigation.

Lt. Jeff Hallock of the Orange County Sheriff's Department said Shareef likely had more knowledge on how to evade law enforcement because he "has an expertise in computers and IP addresses and Internet."

Shareef, who has pleaded not guilty, is expected to return to court on March 27. He is being held on $2 million bail.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Orange County District Attorney's Office at (714) 347-8794.