A former beauty queen who took sexually explicit pictures of a four-year-old in exchange for money and gifts, has been jailed.

Meghan Alt, 27, sent the images of her relative to a US marine, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

The 2014 winner of Mrs Orange County, who in the same year, went on to compete in the Mrs California competition was arrested after the Naval Criminal Investigative Service discovered the images.

She admitted to possessing child pornography and lewd acts with a minor and was sentenced to 300 days behind bars and three years of probation.

She was also ordered to carry out 15 days of community service and complete a treatment programme for child abusers