SAN DIEGO (CNS) — A Temecula optometrist convicted of sex crimes involving a 17-year-old boy and his attempt to meet up with a 14-year-old boy for sex was sentenced Monday to four years and eight months in prison.
Brandon Zoeckler was convicted by a San Diego jury earlier this year 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 17-year-old boy in and around 2017, when Zoeckler was living in Oceanside.
In a sentencing memorandum, prosecutors wrote that investigators seized and examined Zoeckler's cellphone and discovered he met the boy over the dating app Grindr. At the time, Zoeckler was 34 years old and was aware the boy was a minor, prosecutors said.
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