Temecula Optometrist Found Guilty Of Sex With Boy After Vigilante Group Ensnares Him

TEMECULA, CA — A Temecula optometrist, who was also licensed to practice in Beaumont, has been convicted after he was ensnared by a vigilante group and later found to have sexually assaulted a teen boy, it was announced Monday.

At the conclusion of his jury trial in San Diego County, Brandon Thomas Zoeckler, 43, was found guilty of multiple felonies, including two counts of sodomy, one count of pandering (procuring a minor for prostitution), two counts of oral copulation, and two counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a minor.

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California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced in July 2024 that Zoeckler was arrested and charged by state officials as part of an investigation into allegations that he tried to meet up with a 14-year-old boy for sex in San Diego County.

Zoeckler's behavior came to the attention of state law enforcement by People v. Preds, a vigilante group that ensnares online predators who "prey on children," according to its Facebook page.

Cody Mattingly of People v. Preds lodged a complaint with the state after he posed as a 14-year-old boy online to entrap Zoeckler, a 2024 criminal complaint against the defendant showed. During an August 2021 online communication, the unsuspecting Zoeckler uploaded nude images of himself and requested nude photos from Mattingly, who the defendant thought was a child, according to the criminal complaint filed in San Diego County Superior Court.

During the communication, Zoeckler went on to describe, in detail, the sex acts he wanted to perform with "the boy," the complaint alleged.

The illicit conversation led to a planned rendezvous, the complaint continued. Zoeckler drove from Riverside County to a Food 4 Less in San Diego County to meet up with the "boy" he was communicating with.

When Zoeckler arrived, however, he was met by Mattingly, who went on to record the incident. Zoeckler fled the scene, the complaint stated.

Zoecker was eventually arrested, and during the course of the investigation, his phone was seized, and a new underage victim was discovered, prosecutors said. According to court records, the victim was 17 years old. The sodomy, oral copulation, and pandering charges for which he was convicted Monday were tied to crimes committed by Zoeckler in 2017 against that victim, the records show.

At the time of his arrest, California State Board of Optometry records showed Zoeckler was licensed to practice. The records indicated he was working at LensCrafters in the Promenade Temecula mall. Zoeckler's address of record was 831 Highland Springs Avenue, Suite 300, in Beaumont, according to the state board's information.

His license to practice in the state is currently invalid, according to the board's updated records.

Bonta, whose office prosecuted Zoeckler, released a statement Monday. It read, in part, "Although nothing can undo the pain the victim has endured, we hope this verdict offers a measure of closure and a sense that justice has been served."

Zoeckler is scheduled for sentencing on May 29 in San Diego County Superior Court. He will be required to register as a sex offender in the state.