Topsham Man Serving State Sentence for Sexual Abuse of Children Sentenced to 20 Years for Producing Child Pornography

PORTLAND, Maine: A Topsham man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Portland for sexually exploiting four children.

Chief U.S. District Judge Lance E. Walker sentenced Henry Eichman, 65, to 20 years in prison to be followed by a lifetime of supervised release. Eichman pleaded guilty on December 10, 2024.

According to court records, in August 2022, a worker from a Brunswick landscaping company found two laptops and several hard drives hidden under a kayak on the company’s property. The employee opened the devices, discovered that they contained child sexual abuse material, and recognized Eichman, who was a former employee, in some of the files. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) forensically examined the devices and recovered over 500 images and videos containing child sexual abuse material, including videos showing Eichman setting up a recording device and/or participating in the sexual abuse of minor victims from 2014 to 2016. The videos depicted Eichman engaging in sexually explicit conduct with children under the age of 12. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is limiting identifying information to protect the minor victims’ privacy.

Eichman previously entered an Alford plea in state court in 2018 to the sexual abuse of children and is currently serving a 10-year sentence. He will begin serving the sentence imposed today after the completion of his state sentence.

HSI investigated the case with assistance from the Topsham Police Department and the Brunswick Police Department.

To report an incident involving the possession, distribution, receipt or production of child pornography: Child sexual abuse material – referred to in legal terms as "child pornography" – captures the sexual abuse and exploitation of children. These images document victims’ exploitation and abuse, and they suffer revictimization every time the images are viewed. In 2023, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children received 36 million reports of the possession, manufacture, or distribution of child sexual abuse materials. To file a report with NCMEC, go to https://report.cybertip.org or call 1-800-843-5678. If you are in Maine and you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted or abused, you can get help by calling the free, private 24-hour statewide sexual assault helpline at 1-800-871-7741.

Project Safe Childhood: This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Department’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-me/psc.

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