Indiana man sentenced to 240 years in prison for child pornography crimes

HAMMOND, Ind. — An Indiana man was sentenced in federal court Tuesday to 240 years in prison for producing, distributing and possessing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney David Capp, Northern District of Indiana.

This lengthy sentence resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Daniel T. Eckstrom, 32, of Lake Station, Indiana, was sentenced May 12 to 240 years in federal prison — to be followed by lifetime supervised release — for his nine criminal convictions for producing, distributing and possessing child pornography.

Eckstrom pleaded guilty Jan. 17, 2014 to seven charges of producing child pornography, one charge of distributing child pornography, and one charge of possessing child pornography.

The charges for producing child pornography were based on Eckstrom’s capturing of thousands of images and hundreds of videos showing three minor female victims under age 12 forced to engage in sexually explicit conduct.  Eckstrom sexually abused one victim over a period of five years. The court found that Eckstrom used force and threats of violence for her to engage in sex acts. Based on the evidence presented at sentencing, the court concluded that Eckstrom was a repeat and dangerous sex offender and sentenced him to consecutive terms of 30 years on each of the seven charges for producing child pornography. 

On the charge of distributing child pornography, the evidence presented at sentencing established that Eckstrom distributed depictions of two of his victims to others. As a result, more than 600 depictions of one victim have been found in seven investigations in six states; and more than 10,000 depictions of another have been found in 77 investigations in 29 states. Eckstrom received a 20-year sentence for the charge of distributing child pornography, and another 10 years for possessing child pornography.  All the imposed sentences are to be served consecutively.

This investigation began when HSI special agents in Salt Lake City, Utah, located an individual suspected of producing child pornography in Sandy, Utah, and distributing the material via an email account. Upon further investigation, that target was found to be trading depictions, including ones produced by Eckstrom, with another target in Syracuse, New York. When the material was sent to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an investigator with that agency helped identify Eckstrom. Once Eckstrom was located in northwest Indiana, local HSI special agents obtained a federal warrant to search his residence.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill R. Koster, Northern District of Indiana, prosecuted this case. 

This investigation was conducted under HSI's Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 12,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2014, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI's Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.