A Chicago-area man, Michael David Barrett, was arrested last night at that city’s O’Hare airport for secretly taping ESPN reporter Erin Andrews nude.
He is due to appear in federal court Saturday morning. The charges were filed against Michael David Barrett in L.A., where she first learned of the tape.
Barrett faces federal charges of interstate stalking for taking the videos, then trying to sell them to celebrity gossip sites and posting the videos online.
Several TV networks and newspapers aired brief clips or printed screen grabs from the scandalous, virus-laden Erin Andrews peephole video in July.
Andrews thanked FBI agents and prosecutors for their work on the arrest and said she hoped that the case will help others who have been victimized.
“For my part, I will make every effort to strengthen laws on a state and federal level to better protect victims of criminal stalking,” she said in a statement.
Andrews’ attorney, Marshall Grossman, said last night that Erin is “probably sleeping more soundly tonight than she has since these videos surfaced.”
Grossman said the videos appeared to have been taped by a serial stalker who followed Erin from city to city: “He wasn’t an accidental tourist,” he said.
FBI agents report that seven of the eight videos posted online were taken through a modified peephole while the 31-year-old Andrews was alone and naked.
They believe Michael David Barrett called many Nashville, Tenn., hotels to find out where Andrews was staying and requested a hotel room next to hers.
Agents said Barrett, 48, also made reservations at a Milwaukee hotel she visited in July 2008. They found her door’s peephole rigged, but he didn’t check in and the furniture in the room did not match furniture seen on the eighth video.
Barrett first tried to sell the tape to celebrity gossip website TMZ, but an employee there informed Erin Andrews’ attorneys, according to the complaint.
FBI agents matched information in the e-mail to Barrett, and also examined telephone records and credit card charges from Barrett’s Nashville hotel stay.
Agents also concluded that the videos of Erin Andrews naked, which are far from high quality, were probably all recorded using a cell phone camera.
Barrett sought to place Andrews under surveillance to harass and intimidate her, and to cause substantial emotional distress, the federal complaint said.
He faces up to five years in federal prison if convicted.