PORTLAND, Maine — A Westbrook man appeared Tuesday afternoon in U.S. District Court after being charged with sharing child pornography while pretending to be the mother of a 10-year-old girl, according to information posted in the court’s electronic case filing system.
Michael Van Eekhout, 50, was charged with two counts of transportation of child pornography.
He was released on $25,000 unsecured bail. Van Eekhout, who was arrested Tuesday morning, was not asked to enter a plea because he has not yet been indicted by a federal grand jury.
Van Eekhout came to the attention of investigators in July when he allegedly sent an image of child pornography to an agent with Homeland Security Investigations who was working undercover. He told police on July 18, when Westbrook police officers and Homeland Security agents searched his computers, that he knew the woman he was pretending to be. She worked for a New Hampshire technology firm, according to the affidavit filed with the complaint.
He allegedly admitted to investigators that he had emailed images depicting minor females engaged in sexual activities. Investigators found numerous emails between Van Eekhout and other individuals “concerning sexual activities involving mothers and daughters,” the affidavit said.
“In these emails, it appeared that Van Eekhout was posing as a mother with a 10- or 11-year-old daughter, and many featured clothed or nude images of [the New Hampshire woman] and/or clothed images of [her] actual daughter,” the affidavit said.
If convicted, Van Eekhout faces between five and 20 years in federal prison.