Seeking Victim Information in Philip Sobash 'DiscreetGent' Investigation
The FBI’s Child Exploitation Operational Unit is seeking to identify potential victims of Dr. Philip Taylor Sobash, who was recently charged with sexual exploitation of a minor, enticing a minor to produce child pornography, and receiving child pornography. The FBI believes he primarily targeted females between the ages of 15 and 25 from January 2014 through his arrest in December 2024.
Evidence gathered by the FBI indicates that Philip Sobash, a medical doctor, used online "sugar daddy" websites to meet his victims and would entice them to produce sexually explicit images of themselves and send the images to Sobash. Sobash would often send money or gifts to his victims in exchange for the images. He would assure his victims the images would remain private between them, but, in fact, without the victims’ knowledge or permission, he would distribute the images online. Numerous victims have reported that after sending sexually explicit images to Sobash, they would be threatened and coerced into producing more imagery.
Additional Resources
The FBI has found dozens of victims' sexually explicit images for sale online.
Sobash used various monikers online, including “DiscreetGent,” “Discreet Gentleman,” “Discreet Spoiling,” “Sugar Daddy,” “Interesting Fun,” “Honest and Fun,” and “Excited Guy.” Sobash communicated with victims using phone numbers 803-XXX-1000 and 803-XXX-4400 and possibly others.
If you and/or your minor dependent(s) were victimized by Philip Sobash or have information relevant to this investigation, please fill out this short form.
If you know of someone else who has possibly been victimized by Sobash, please encourage them to complete the form themselves.
Numerous victims have settled civil lawsuits against Sobash and may be bound by non-disclosure agreements. Such agreements are likely unenforceable if designed to prevent victims from reporting crimes to law enforcement. See Cosby v. American Media, Inc., 197 F.Supp.3d 735, 740-43 (E.D. Pa. 2016). Still, if you or your minor dependent are concerned about a non-disclosure agreement, you may indicate this on the form and wait to provide more details until you receive a subpoena, which will create a legal duty to disclose information about the crime that will trump any non-disclosure agreement.
The FBI is legally mandated to identify victims of federal crimes it investigates. Victims may be eligible for certain services, restitution, and rights under federal and/or state law. Your responses are voluntary but may be useful in the federal investigation and to identify you as a potential victim. Based on the responses provided, you may be contacted by the FBI and asked to provide additional information. All identities of victims will be kept confidential.
