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Man gets 30 months in prison for taping nude sportscaster
Erin Andrews bids adieu to peephole stalker
A Chicago-area man was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for secretly taking videos of America's sexiest sportscaster in the nude and then posting them online.
Michael David Barrett, 49, was also ordered to pay $7,366 in restitution to Erin Andrews, the ESPN bombshell he stalked over an 18-month period starting in early 2008. On three occasions, he was able to learn where Andrews would be lodging and make reservations to stay in the same hotels, twice in rooms adjacent to hers.
It was during these encounters that Barrett videotaped Andrews while she was naked in her hotel room. In at least one case, Barrett was able to make the videos after removing the peephole from her door.
In January 2009, Barrett offered to sell the videos to celebrity gossip site TMZ.com. When it refused, he posted the footage on Google Video under titles such as "Erin Andrews Naked Butt" and "Sexy and Hot Blonde Sports celebrity shows us her all".
Prosecutors argued a prison sentence was justified because Barrett posted videos depicting another 16 unidentified victims. In December, Barrett pleaded guilty to interstate stalking with the intent to harass and to cause substantial emotional distress.
Andrews appeared at Barrett's sentencing hearing, according to news reports, and pushed for restitution to be set at $335,000. "I'm being victimized every day ... and I did nothing to deserve it," Andrews told the court. ®