A former victim services advocate from Canton who was accused of distribution of child sex abuse material has pleaded guilty, according to the US Department of Justice.
Robert Eccleston, 58, was arrested on Dec. 11, 2020 on a federal criminal complaint charging him with distributing child pornography, according to the office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Court documents say that FBI personnel in two different field offices outside of Connecticut were monitoring several public groups on the social media application Kik, according to officials.
Officials said that Eccleston used the Kik usernames "hartfordctguy" and "Mowgli100" to distribute numerous pornographic photos and videos of children in these Kik groups. This included photos and videos depicting sexual abuse of toddlers and pre-teen children, officials said.
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Eccleston was employed by the Hartford Superior Court as a victim services advocate when he was arrested, federal officials said.
On Monday, he waived his right to be indicted and pleaded guilty by videoconference to one count of distribution of child pornography.
He is scheduled to be sentenced in Hartford on April 19.
