HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — A traveling salesman has been detained in the Erin Andrews nude peephole scandal that swept the Web in July.
Michael David Barrett, 48, of Westmont, Ill. was arrested Friday night at Chicago's O'Hare airport, the Associated Press reports. He faces federal charges of interstate stalking for allegedly shooting the nude videos, posting them online and attempting to sell them to the celebrity news source TMZ.
Seven of the eight videos posted on the Web were taken through a modified door peephole while the 31-year-old Andrews was alone and undressed in hotel rooms in Nashville, Tenn., in September 2008.
FBI agents believe Barrett requested a Nashville hotel room next to Andrews and rigged the door's peephole.
An eighth video was likely shot at a Milwaukee hotel in July 2008, authorities said.
The videos surfaced days after Andrews appeared at the ESPY Awards.
"I hope that today's action will help the countless others who have been similarly victimized," she said following the arrest. "I will make every effort to strengthen the laws on a state and federal level to better protect victims of criminal stalking. I am also grateful to those who have expressed their concerns and good wishes for my family and me."
Andrews was voted "America's Sexiest Sportscaster" by Playboy magazine in both 2007 and 2008. Last month, the University of Florida graduate appeared on the "Oprah Winfrey Show," where she recalled a conversation with her father after the nude footage first surfaced.
"I kept screaming, 'I'm done. My career is over. I'm done,' " she said.
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