Former Lutz Children's Museum director admits distributing child porn

Alex Wood, Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
·3 min read

Sep. 1—The former executive director of the Lutz Children's Museum in Manchester pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal charge of distributing child pornography and faces at least a five-year prison sentence.

CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

DEFENDANT: Robert Christopher Eckert, who is in his late 50s, was formerly executive director of the Lutz Children's Museum in Manchester and has lived in Simsbury

GUILTY PLEA: Distributing child pornography

SENTENCING: Nov. 28 in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport; faces minimum of five years in prison; remains free on bond while awaiting sentencing

Robert Christopher Eckert, who is in his late 50s and lived in Simsbury when he was charged in the case last year, entered the plea before Judge Stefan R. Underhill in U.S. District Court in Bridgeport.

The crime carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum of 20 years.

Federal sentencing guidelines call for a prison term between 135 and 158 months, prosecutor Nancy V. Gifford said in court. That's 11 1/4 to more than 13 years. But both sides reserve the right to argue for a sentence outside that range.

Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 28 in the Bridgeport federal court.

Whatever prison term Eckert receives will be followed by a period of "supervised release," which is similar to probation, between five years and life.

The Lutz museum said in a statement after Eckert's April 2021 arrest in the case that he was placed on administrative leave immediately after the museum learned of the allegations against him and that his employment was subsequently terminated. The statement didn't give the dates of those events.

But the indictment in Eckert's case says law enforcement personnel seized a smartphone from him on June 12, 2020. Based on appearances at public events, Eckert appears to have left his job at the museum sometime between Groundhog Day in February 2020 and October of that year.

The allegations against him first became public when he was arraigned on the federal charge in April 2021.

Gifford said in court Thursday that the investigation of Eckert began with tips from the Kik messaging service and the MeWe social network regarding child pornography.

She said Eckert had four MeWe accounts using false names. She said he used his cellphone to gain access to the MeWe accounts from his home and from the Lutz museum.

The prosecutor said the electronic evidence in the case included "chats" with other people in which Eckert discussed his sexual interests, including his interest in child pornography. She quoted him as saying in one chat, "I like teen, preteen."

Gifford said Eckert possessed 1,837 pictures and more than 40 videos constituting child pornography. She said he would trade child pornography for other child pornography.

The judge told Eckert that he will have to register as a sex offender for life in any state where he lives.

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