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Home Seeking Victim Information in Philip Sobash “DiscreetGent” Investigation

Seeking Victim Information in Philip Sobash “DiscreetGent” Investigation

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.

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

Additional Resources

Contact Information
Questionnaire
1. Do you believe you are bound by a non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement that prevents you from discussing Philip Sobash’s conduct?


2. If you answered “Yes” to Question #1: before providing additional information, would you prefer to speak to an FBI agent about receiving a subpoena?


IF YOU ANSWERED “YES” TO QUESTIONS 1 & 2, DO NOT COMPLETE THE REST OF THIS FORM
4. When you began communicating with Sobash, were you UNDER the age of 18?


7. Did Sobash ever request that you send him sexually explicit images of yourself?


8. Did you ever send sexually explicit images of yourself to Sobash?


9. Did Sobash ever send you cash or items of value?


11. Have you previously reported Sobash’s conduct to law enforcement, or have you previously been questioned by law enforcement about Sobash’s conduct?


12. Do you still have any of the communications exchanged with Sobash? If yes, please preserve these communications, so they may be provided to the FBI.


13. Do you still have any of the sexually explicit images you sent to Sobash? If yes, please preserve these images, so they may be provided to the FBI.


14. Do you still have the electronic devices or social media accounts you used to communicate with Sobash? If yes, please preserve these electronic devices and social media accounts, so they can provided/shown to the FBI.


Privacy Act Statement

The FBI is authorized to collect the information on this form by one or more of the following provisions: Title 28, United States Code, sections 533 and 534; Title 28, Code of Federal Regulations, section 0.85; and the Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance. The information requested will assist the FBI in providing you with assistance to which crime victims are entitled under federal law. You do not have to provide the requested information; however, failure to do so may hinder the FBI in providing you with crime victim assistance. The information collected on this form is protected by the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, Title 5, United States Code section 552a, and is maintained in the FBI’s Central Records System, DOJ/FBI-002, a description of which was published in the Federal Register at 63 Fed. Reg. 8671 (Feb. 20, 1998) and which may be viewed at www.justice.gov/opcl/doj-systems-records#doj