SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The FBI and ICAC are working on identifying potential victims in San Diego after a University City man was arrested earlier this week for the production of child pornography.
According to the FBI, 49-year-old Eric Jacob Layton is facing multiple child porn charges after pretending to be a doctor, a sportswriter, and a modeling recruiter in order to lure underage victims for sexually explicit content from March 2023 to April 2023.
A press release issued Wednesday by the FBI says that Layton facilitated multiple massages of minors under the guise of a sports therapist named Travis Parkin. Layton also contacted potential victims identifying himself as a sports physician by the name of Dr. Alexis Iniesta.
The FBI says since Layton's arrest, they have identified several more victims who were targeted through their involvement in youth sports. They believe many of the victims are in San Diego.
On Thursday, July 6, FBI agents and the ICAC task force executed a federal search warrant for crimes related to child exploitation at Layton's home at 6446 Panel Court. He was later charged with contacting minors in an attempt to engage in sexual activities and booked into San Diego County Jail. His bond was set at $275,000.
The following day, Layton was released on bond and scheduled for a hearing on Monday, July 17. However, on Monday, July 10, Layton was arrested a second time at his home on federal charges for allegedly soliciting inappropriate photos from youth in Florida. At the time of his arrest, Layton was with his infant son.
Agents say in early April 2023, Plantation Police Department in Broward County, Florida, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Cyber Tipline got a report that a 15-year-old boy was being solicited online via social media and voice calls to make child sexual abuse material. Accounts used to contact the minor were linked to Layton's home in San Diego, where he lived with his son.
In a federal complaint released by the FBI on Monday, it was revealed that Layton was previously known as Eric Leighton Abrams and legally changed his name in 2021.
In 1999, The SF Gate reported that Abrams posed as a Nike representative and tricked a boy into thinking he won a prize, luring him to his house. It was also reported that he impersonated a police officer while luring a 13-year-old boy into his car.
Abrams was sentenced to two years in prison for false imprisonment and annoying or molesting a child charges after pleading no contest in Santa Clara County.
Layton remains in federal custody awaiting extradition to Florida.
Anyone with information regarding suspicious contact with Layton is encouraged to email the FBI at laytoninvestigation@fbi.gov.
