LaPorte Man Sentenced to 60 Years in Prison for Making Child Pornography, Explosives

Eric R. Weiler

A LaPorte man who pleaded guilty to making child pornography and explosives has been sentenced to 60 years in prison. Court documents say Eric R. Weiler, 46, drugged people so they would be unconscious while he made a video of himself performing sex acts on an unconscious child, according to U.S. Attorney Thomas Kirsch.

In the summer of 2017, Weiler reportedly wrote about kidnapping and sexually abusing a child, after killing the child’s guardians. Kirsch says Weiler also rerouted the wires in someone’s car to try to blow it up.

Investigators eventually recovered two incendiary devices, as well as electronic devices containing more than 24,000 images and over 80 videos of child pornography in his home. There were also videos of Weiler threatening to use one of the explosives to extort sex from a woman.

Kirsch says Weiler was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 720 months in prison and five years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay more than $26,000 in restitution. In a statement, Kirsch said the facts of the case are horrific, and that Weiler’s 60-year sentence reflects the seriousness of his crimes.