A former high school and college football star is now getting a different kind of attention—criminal charges from the FBI.
Eric Layton, whose name used to be Eric Abrams, is accused of posing as a doctor online in an effort to get a young man to send him pictures of his pubic hair and genitals. Layton is accused of calling and messaging the young athlete and his parents, who live in Florida, telling them he worked for USA Boxing and needed to document the 15-year-old’s physical development so he could compete.
The boy’s parents became suspicious and contacted the FBI. According to the criminal complaint, Layton’s cell phone and internet records led them to five other children he contacted posing as a modeling recruiter to produce child pornography.
The FBI says Layton targeted young people who were involved in athletics, posing as a doctor, a sports reporter, and a massage therapist to establish a relationship which led to getting sexually explicit pictures from the children and sometimes resulted in face-to-face encounters.
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The FBI says Layton called himself Dr. Alexis Iniesta to some potential victims, to others he referred to himself as sports massage therapist Travis Parkin.
San Diego News
Layton is the father of a one-year-old boy. He is also the son of Dr. Jeffrey Abrams who was convicted of sexually assaulting and taking inappropriate pictures of female patients in 2015.
Layton legally changed his name several years ago. He used to be known as Eric Abrams, a star high school football player at La Jolla Country Day who went on to be a kicker at Stanford.
This isn’t his first brush with the law. In 1996, he pleaded no contest to telephone harassment charges after he was accused of asking teen boys in the San Francisco Bay area to send him naked pictures. In 1999 Layton, who was still using the last name Abrams, was convicted of posing as a Nike salesman to lure a 14-year-old boy to his apartment. He was also investigated for impersonating a police officer to get young boys into his car.
One of his neighbors in University City told NBC 7 she looked up Eric Abrams on the Megan’s Law website for sex offenders but he wasn’t listed.
Other neighbors described Layton as “weird and reclusive” saying he rarely interacted with them when he walked his dog, and more recently went for walks with his 1-year-old son.
The house next door to Layton is a daycare. The day Layton was arrested by the FBI the doors to the daycare were locked, according to concerned neighbors who also said Layton’s parents watched as their son’s home was searched and he was taken into custody.
One neighbor who asked that he not be identified told NBC 7 believes Layton’s arrest is just the tip of the iceberg. He hopes the arrest is a deterrent to child pornographers but added, “I worry that there are hundreds of thousands of people that are consuming this malicious trash.”
The FBI believes there could be more victims in the San Diego area. People with information regarding suspicious contact with Layton are encouraged to email the FBI at laytoninvestigation@fbi.gov.
