A Topsham resident, Henry Eichman, 65, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Portland to 20 years in federal prison for sexually exploiting four children. Chief U.S. District Judge Lance E. Walker also ordered a lifetime of supervised release following the prison term. Eichman pleaded guilty on December 10, 2024.
Court records show that in August 2022, an employee from a Brunswick landscaping company discovered two laptops and several hard drives hidden under a kayak on company property. The devices contained child sexual abuse material, and the worker recognized Eichman, a former employee, in some of the files. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) examined the devices and found over 500 images and videos depicting child sexual abuse material. Some videos showed Eichman setting up recording equipment and participating in the sexual abuse of minors between 2014 and 2016. The children involved were under the age of 12. To protect their privacy, authorities are withholding identifying information about the victims.
Eichman had previously entered an Alford plea in state court in 2018 for sexual abuse of children and is currently serving a 10-year sentence at the state level. He will begin serving his new federal sentence after completing his current one.
The investigation was conducted by HSI with assistance from both the Topsham Police Department and the Brunswick Police Department.
Authorities emphasize that child sexual abuse material documents victims’ exploitation and results in ongoing harm each time such material is viewed or distributed. In 2023, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children received approximately 36 million reports related to possession, manufacture, or distribution of this type of content. Reports can be filed with NCMEC at https://report.cybertip.org or by calling 1-800-843-5678.
This case falls under Project Safe Childhood, an initiative launched by the Department of Justice in May 2006 to address child sexual exploitation using federal, state, and local resources to locate offenders and rescue victims. More information about Project Safe Childhood is available at https://www.justice.gov/usao-me/psc.
“###
