Former Lake Station man serving life in federal prison gets 40 more years in Lake County in child molesting plea deal

A man already serving a 240-year life sentence in federal prison was handed another 40 years Monday in a plea deal for two 2013 Lake County child molesting cases.

Daniel Eckstrom, 41, formerly of Lake Station, pleaded guilty Feb. 12 to three counts of child molesting. The plea deal outlined a 40-year term, which technically runs after the federal term.

His defense lawyer Adrian Guzman said Eckstrom wanted to “accept responsibility.”

Deputy Prosecutor Tara Villarreal said it involved the same victim from the federal case. The plea was “fair” and she asked Judge Salvador Vasquez to accept it.

Eckstrom declined to speak in court.

Court documents show Eckstrom admitted repeatedly having sex with a preteen girl from December 2003 to May 2013. In the second county case, Eckstrom admitted inappropriately touching two other preteen girls in 2012 and 2013, according to his plea deal.

The judge noted Eckstrom said via a presentence investigation report he was remorseful for what he did. Is that true, the judge asked.

“I’ll always regret it for the rest of my life,” Eckstrom replied.

Eckstrom pleaded guilty in 2014 in the U.S. District Court in Hammond after producing and distributing thousands of child pornography images.

Eckstrom, then 32, was accused of having sex with and filming three minor girls, then possessing and distributing the videos and images via his Yahoo email and various peer-to-peer networks. His sentence was enhanced for producing sadomasochistic images, preying on sleeping girls, plying one girl with marijuana and engaging in a pattern of abuse over several years, according to Post-Tribune archives.

One victim called him “manipulative and evil,” according to court filings.

He agreed to pay $250,000 in restitution to Jane Doe No. 1 as part of a settlement, but his financial situation is such that the victim is unlikely to see much of that money, U.S. District Judge Philip Simon said.

At the time, Simon said it was “the single most disturbing case” he’d seen in a dozen years on the bench.

Post-Tribune archives contributed.