Additional Drug and Firearm Charges for Hibbing Man

HIBBING, Minn. – A Hibbing man charged with distributing illicit material of children is now facing additional drug and firearm charges, court documents show.

The Hibbing man charged just weeks ago on nine counts of distributing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) over the messaging app “Kik” is facing new charges. Joshua Eckstrom, 46, was arrested on Feb. 26 after local law enforcement received CyberTips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Search warrants related to the case showed that Hibbing investigators were able to link Eckstrom’s email to the creation of multiple accounts that were flagged for allegedly sharing CSAM.

A new criminal complaint against Eckstrom now alleges that officers found evidence of additional offenses.

Officers said they recovered roughly a half pound of psilocybin mushrooms packaged into 10 separate bags and a pistol in a safe. Eckstrom has previous convictions for violent felonies, according to charging documents. He was charged with second-degree drug possession and a felon in possession of a firearm.

There may be even more charges yet to come, however, as search warrants for Eckstrom’s Dropbox account (a file storage/sharing service) have yet to be fully executed, according to court documents. Warrant applications from Hibbing investigators point to another CyberTip they believe is also linked to Eckstrom. The CyberTip allegedly involves the alleged upload of CSAM to a Dropbox account owned by Eckstrom.