Iowa man admits to cyberstalking MN woman in revenge porn case
A northern Iowa businessman has pleaded guilty to harassing and stalking a Minnesota woman following a breakup between the pair.
On Friday, 57-year-old Michael Shawn McGuire of Cresco admitted in a Cedar Rapids federal court that he "used Facebook and the mail to engage in conduct to harass and intimidate another person and cause substantial emotional distress to that person."
He pleaded guilty to four counts of cyberstalking, according to a news release from the sheriff of Kandiyohi County — where McGuire's victim lives.
The release indicates he used a number of tactics to torment the unidentified woman between August 2018 and May 2019, including leaving numerous sexually explicit yard signs around her community — containing her name, telephone number, address, and email address — and sending photos of the victim to her friends, family and associates.
He also created "various fake dating profiles" associated with the victim.
According to an earlier release from federal prosecutors, the photos of the woman were "semi-nude."
At the time McGuire was charged, The Courier reported that the victim had met McGuire online, "briefly dated and then broke up" with him.
The paper reported that a "lewd sign mentioning the woman was put up at a Spicer, Minn., restaurant," while her neighbors received "a photo collage of female body parts that included a bare-chested photo she had earlier given McGuire" — just two incidents in an ongoing pattern of public humiliation.
McGuire hasn't been sentenced yet, but the Kandiyohi County sheriff's release says he's now facing a possible maximum of 20 years in prison, along with $250,000 in fines.
