ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews confronted her hotel peephole stalker in court on Tuesday, though prosecutors struck a plea deal with him, offering a chance to do less time and avoid a trial.
Michael David Barrett pleaded guilty Tuesday to filming videos of an unwitting Andrews in the nude and posting the footage to the Internet. Barrett, 48, copped to a felony charge of interstate stalking in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom, The Associated Press says.
Barrett, of Westmont, Ill., surreptitiously shot footage of Andrews naked through peepholes in hotel rooms in Nashville; Columbus; and Milwaukee, and posting the footage on the Internet after unsuccessfully trying to unload it to TMZ.com.
Andrews asked the judge to be harsh when sentencing Barrett, who she calls a sexual predator.
Barrett was arrested Oct. 2 at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
“I feel personally threatened as long as he remains free,” the sports aficionado told the judge, never looking at Barrett during the hearing.
“He stalked me in a calculated way,” she said. “I’ve been humiliated. I’ve been embarrassed and my career has been ripped apart. I am subject to crude comments. I walk into stadiums and fans make crude comments to me. I have nightmares about this sexual predator.”
She added, “I hope he never sees the light of day again so nobody else has to go through this.”
Barrett remains free on $100,000 bail pending sentencing.
