A dentist in Arizona who allegedly had sexually explicit conversations with minors and sent them nude photos via a social media platform may temporarily lose his license, according to a story published June 30 on azfamily.com.
Dr. Jonathan Lane Sanders.LinkedIn.
The Arizona State Board of Dental Examiners offered Dr. Jonathan Lane Sanders, 32, who was terminated from his position as an associate dentist at Caffall Dental Care in Mesa, AZ, an agreement not to practice until his criminal case is resolved, according to the story.
The state board voted on June 30 to offer Sanders, who remains in jail and has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of knowingly receiving child pornography, coercion and enticement of a minor, and transferring obscene matter to a minor, an interim consent agreement on the grounds of unprofessional conduct.
If Sanders signs the agreement, he cannot practice and will face the board after his criminal case is over. If he fails to sign within a week, the board can move forward with suspending or revoking his dental license, according to the story.
The board's action came after Sanders was arrested for allegedly chatting on more than 30 Discord accounts that appeared to belong to teenagers, including one as young as 13, in other states. Most of the conversations were not only sexually explicit but involved the exchange of images, including photos of male genitalia.
The FBI began investigating after Connecticut parents reported that their 15-year-old had been chatting online with an older man. Authorities reviewed the social media platform account and found that the man consistently claimed to be a 31-year-old dentist from Arizona. Further investigation revealed that the account was linked to IP addresses that were connected to Sanders, as well as a dental practice in Mesa.
Several of the conversations, which occurred between October 2024 and March 2025, included graphic descriptions of sexual acts. In one conversation with a user who claimed to be a 13-year-old girl, Sanders allegedly sent a long message that concluded with him asking her to be his girlfriend and saying, “I’d love to cuddle you.”
In a single month, Sanders reportedly exchanged more than 1,800 messages with a Discord user who reported being 15. In some of the messages sent to various users, the dentist allegedly sent images of a penis, as well as an image of a person who was sitting in a dental office and resembled Sanders.
A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
