Henry Eichman, the founder of a youth theater group in Topsham who was already facing 18 counts of sexual abuse in two counties, has been indicted again on two additional, similar charges in Cumberland County.
Eichman, who also worked in the drama department and in an after-school program at St. John’s Catholic School in Brunswick, was indicted on two new charges by the Cumberland County grand jury this month. He was indicted for unlawful sexual contact with a child under the age of 12 and unlawful sexual touching of a student.
Eichman faces 16 counts of alleged sexual abuse in Sagadahoc County for acts that reportedly took place at his former apartment in Topsham, and two prior charges of sexual abuse in Brunswick. The indictment issued this month doesn’t say when the alleged acts took place, other than a reference to 2016.
The acts on which the prior two Cumberland County indictments were based allegedly happened on Sept. 8, 2016, according to court documents, and involved an 11-year-old. Eichman was arrested on the Sagadahoc County charges on Sept. 9, 2016, and indicted on the first two Cumberland County charges in April 2017.
Eichman was one of the founders of the Midcoast Youth Theater. According to court documents, none of the acts he is accused of took place during theater practices or performances and theater officials said police and prosecutors have not questioned them in the case.
Eichman, who is divorced and has a child, has been a landscaper for 20 years. He is a homeowner who has lived in Maine for 30 years.
In the Sagadahoc County case, Eichman is alleged to have secretly filmed children going to the bathroom in a bucket set up outside his apartment. Eichman told the children, whom he had invited to pool parties, that he didn’t want them tracking water into his apartment to use the bathroom, so they were told to use the bucket instead. One of the children reported seeing what looked like a video camera with a blinking red light that she believed was recording her.
At a sleepover for children in his apartment, one of the children reported seeing two other children sleeping in Eichman’s bed with him, and he was “moving up and down” on top of one of them, an affidavit filed with the court said.
Officials with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland said Eichman passed regular background checks while he was employed at the school, including with the state Department of Health and Human Services in July 2016, and a nationwide background check in 2013. State records indicate that Eichman had no prior criminal record in Maine.
On the most serious charge he faces – unlawful sexual contact – Eichman could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
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