SAN DIEGO (CNS) — A Temecula optometrist was convicted this week of sex crimes involving a 17-year-old boy, as well as traveling to San Diego County for sex with a person he believed to be a 14-year-old boy.
Brandon Zoeckler was convicted by a San Diego jury on Thursday of six of seven felony charges filed against him by the California Attorney General's Office, which said the investigation into Zoeckler began after the California Board of Optometry received a complaint in July of 2022.
The complaint was submitted by Cody Mattingly, who is a part of the citizens group "People Vs. Predators." Members of the group typically pose as minors, then attempt to meet with adults who arrange for sexual encounters, and expose them on video.
Mattingly told investigators that he posed as the 14-year-old boy and that over text messages Zoeckler sent nude photos of himself and described graphic sexual acts he wanted to engage in with the teen.
A prosecution trial brief states Zoeckler messaged Mattingly, "I just don't want this to be a trap," to which Mattingly responded, "A trap? I'm just looking for fun."
Zoeckler responded, "I know me too but remember this is highly illegal lol," the trial brief states.
Zoeckler drove from Riverside County to a Food 4 Less store in San Diego County to meet with the boy, where he was recorded by Mattingly, the declaration states.
Once he arrived at the arranged-upon meet-up location, Zoeckler found that he had been communicating with an adult and "fled the scene," the California Attorney General's Office said.
Zoeckler was charged in 2024 in connection with that incident, but prosecutors later added charges involving a series of sexual encounters Zoeckler had with a juvenile in and around 2017. Prosecutors wrote in their trial brief that Zoeckler was living in Oceanside at the time, had met the boy over the dating app Grindr, and met up with him multiple times for sex.
Zoeckler is slated to be sentenced next month.
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