Former doctor indicted on child sexual exploitation, other charges
Editor's Note: The story has been updated to reflect Philip Sobash was a former doctor not licensed in the state of Texas.
AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A former doctor has been indicted on a child sexual exploitation charge. Court documents said he met a teen online and then blackmailed her into sending him nude photos. But the allegations do not stop there.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said between October 2018 and May 2019 Philip Sobash, who was a licensed doctor in another state but was living in Austin at the time, had an "online sexually explicit relationship" with a minor who lived in Tennessee.
Sobash is charged with sexual exploitation of a minor, enticing a minor to produce child pornography, and receiving child pornography. An attorney was not listed for Sobash. We will update this if that changes.
Court documents show the two met online on a "sugar daddy" website. While the girl originally said she was 18, she later reportedly told Sobash she was underage and sent her driver license to prove it to him. The website did not have an age verification system in place to identify how old users really were, the DOJ said.
Over an eight month period, court documents show he asked the girl to send "sexually explicit" photos of herself. In exchange, Sobash reportedly gave the girl "thousands of dollars in gifts and cash."
Court documents show he allegedly told the girl the images would "remain private." However, investigators said Sobash put them all online, including the young girl's license. It was a part of a larger collection of photos investigators said they found of about 70 women, including at least four other underage girls.
The FBI said Sobash reportedly targeted females between 15 and 25 years old. All the images sent to him were uploaded online and made for sale, according to the FBI.
Victims allege after they sent photos to Sobash he would also post all their personal information online with the images, including first and last names. Victims told the FBI they were then threatened by others to make some images for them.
Sobash reportedly used monikers online including “DiscreetGent,” “Discreet Gentleman,” “Discreet Spoiling,” “Sugar Daddy,” “Interesting Fun,” “Honest and Fun” and “Excited Guy," according to the DOJ.
The FBI said the reported incidents happened between January 2014 and December 2024, before his arrest.
The FBI believes there could be more victims. There is a special section on its website where you can leave information for investigators.