Laguna Beach officials are investigating how a person accessing a Zoom video-conference City Council meeting was able to hack a live sex act into the meeting.

The incident occurred about 5:30 p.m. during the Tuesday, March 31, meeting just as City Manager John Pietig began detailing coronavirus-related closures at beaches, parks and trailheads planned for the month of April. The meeting was the city’s first virtual meeting since the coronavirus quarantine was issued and City Hall was closed to the public.

First to appear were pornographic sketches coupled with profane words written on a “whiteboard” feature that allows users to annotate on a shared screen.

Laguna Beach Mayor Bob Whalen immediately asked Gavin Curran, the city’s director of administrative services who was hosting the meeting, to disconnect.

“Can you put a stop to that, can you turn off the screen, Gavin?” Whalen asked. “It appears someone is posting an inappropriate message. It’s very disappointing someone would do something like that.”

About five minutes later – when everyone except for City Councilman Peter Blake, Curran and City Clerk Lisette Chel-Walker who were physically present in the council chambers were dialed in – the meeting continued only to be interrupted again five minutes later by a live sex scene.

Curran immediately disconnected the Zoom call, which at the time had 51 people participating by conference – including City Council members, the city manager, the city attorney and other Laguna Beach city staff. The remaining people online were members of the public who had been given instructions on how to join the meeting. That information was publicly posted in advance of the meeting on the city’s website and on the City Council meeting agenda.

After the second disruption, the meeting continued via another system.

“The whole goal was to let the public verbally participate,” said Chel-Walker. “This person was literally taking over the meeting and Gavin couldn’t stop it. Everything was well-rehearsed. We spent all last week perfecting it. This was one thing we didn’t anticipate.”

There have been news reports of similar disruptions to public Zoom events hosted by companies and groups; the company has posted information on how to “keep the crashers out.”

Since the incident, Chel-Walker said she has been getting calls from other Orange County cities such as Dana Point, Irvine and Tustin, who had an interest in using Zoom for their online meetings.

“I extend my apologies to all who were subjected to the experience against their will,” Whalen said. “This was a criminal act and I hope that our Police Department is able to track the perpetrators down and bring them to justice.”

A police report was taken and the incident is being investigated; representatives from Zoom are assisting, officials said.

“While a new situation, it was a virtual act with the intention to disturb, disrupt or interfere with a public meeting,” Laguna Beach Police Chief Laura Farinella said. “This offense is a misdemeanor that carries a penalty of up to six months in jail.”

Plans to make sure this won’t happen again are in place, Whalen said.

“We’re all trying to find a new way to talk to people because we can’t get together,” Blake said. “We’re all new at this. We’re all in this balancing act of creating the greatest amount of transparency.”