Ala. doctor who asked to be 17-year-old patient’s 'sugar daddy' is sentenced

BLOUNT COUNTY, Ala. (TCN) -- A 60-year-old doctor was sentenced this week after he previously pleaded guilty to trying to meet an underage patient for sex and asking to be her "sugar daddy."

According to WIAT-TV, a judge sentenced Dr. Janaki Earla to 15 years in prison, though only three of them will be served with him incarcerated. He also received three years of probation. If he violates the terms of his probation, he could go back to prison for the rest of his 15-year sentence. In addition, Earla will be deported back to his home country of India following his release.

AL.com reports the teen victim was a patient of Earla’s on Oct. 4, 2022. He reportedly placed a stethoscope on her breasts and complimented the girl’s beauty. He got the teen’s cellphone number and told her, "You can text me whenever you feel like."

The teen told her mother, who then contacted the Blount County Sheriff’s Office. On Oct. 5, 2022, Earla texted her again and asked her to "please promise me that you won’t tell anyone. I mean it." AL.com reports Earla wrote, "Let’s keep it a secret and I won’t tell anything to anyone I promise. I respect your mom and dad, and this is between you and me."

Blount County investigators took control of the teen’s phone and pretended to be the victim while communicating with Earla. During one of those messages, he offered to be her "sugar daddy" and sent a definition of the term. When the investigator who was posing as the teen asked if Earla was her sugar daddy, he replied, "Yes. Love you baby."

Earla said he wanted the teen to "play with me and own me" and treat him like a "lover."

AL.com reports he wrote, "I took a risk and asked you to be my sugar baby. I was afraid to say, and you may freak out. I am a middle-aged sad man and you’re a bubbly senior in high school and about to [go to] college and one of my friends said that he had a sugar baby who is also a senior in school and she made a big difference in his life, and they had fun together and said that you will see a huge, nice experience."

Earla and the investigators pretending to be the teen arranged a rendezvous for Oct. 11, 2022. He said he was going to bring condoms, pizza, money, and alcohol. When Earla showed up to a hotel, he was approached by deputies and other law enforcement agencies. Earla reportedly confessed and was charged with possession of child pornography in December 2022.

WIAT reports Earla pleaded guilty to two counts of possession of obscene material depicting a child under the age of 17 and one count of first-degree human trafficking.

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