San Diego Man Who Posed As Doctor To Solicit Teen Sentenced To Prison

SAN DIEGO, CA — A San Diego man who claimed to be a doctor in an attempt to solicit sexually explicit material from a 15-year-old Florida boy was sentenced Wednesday to 12 years in prison.

Eric Jacob Layton, who is also facing charges in San Diego related to multiple alleged underage victims, was sentenced Wednesday morning in federal court in the Southern District of Florida for trying to solicit a young amateur athlete.

Layton was arrested in 2023 at his University City home on allegations of posing as a doctor, sports reporter, massage therapist and youth sports modeling agent in order to obtain sexually explicit photographs from minors and/or arrange in-person meetings with the juveniles, authorities said.

The FBI said victims who participated in youth sports were primarily targeted and that Layton presented himself as a sports massage therapist named Travis Parkin who specialized in youth athletics and as a sports physician named Dr. Alexis Iniesta.

Layton pleaded guilty to a count of attempted enticement of a minor in the Florida case and pleaded not guilty in 2023 to the San Diego charges, which include felony counts of lewd acts on a child and contacting a minor with the intent to commit a sexual offense.

It is unclear when the San Diego case might proceed further.

According to court documents, Layton initially claimed to be a writer for a sports publication who wanted to interview the Florida boy, then later posed as a physician and asked the boy a series of questions over the phone that he claimed were necessary for the boy to participate in his sport.

Many of the questions were sexually explicit in nature, according to a factual proffer statement filed in connection with his plea agreement, which states Layton also sought pictures of the boy's genitals that he claimed "were required to determine the minor victim's physical development."

— City News Service