Erin Andrews' Peeping Tom Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison
Michael Barrett videoed sportscaster changing through hotel room peephole.
March 15, 2009— -- An "angry" Erin Andrews confronted her stalker in court today, where the man accused of filming hours of nude video of the ESPN sportscaster through hotel room peepholes was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
Michael Barrett, 49, pleaded guilty to interstate stalking for following Andrews around the country.
He was ordered to surrender himself to authorities on May 3. In addition to the prison time, he was sentenced to pay Andrews $7,366 in restitution.
Andrews took the stand and spoke directly to Barrett, who, she later told reporters, would not look her in the eye.
"I'm angry. I want him to hear that. I want the judge to hear that," Andrews said at a press conference following the sentencing.
Andrews said she believed the deal prosecutors offered was far too lenient and called on Congress to stiffen anti-stalking and video voyeurism laws.
"I'm at the angry stage right now," Andrews said. "I'm mad. Thirty months isn't enough. I think it's time for Congress, lawmakers to make a stiffer sentence for what it is. A lot of celebrities who have been stalked want to put it away. I can't. I'm in the angry stage."
In a sentencing memo filed last month, Andrews had said she wanted Barrett to pay about $335,000 in restitution. Andrews lawyer said at the time she would not pursue a civil trial.
Ten videos of Andrews, 32, a sidelines reporter who joined in ESPN in 2004, hit the Internet in July 2009, setting off millions of online searches and forcing Andrews to take a hiatus from reporting.
The video prompted debates about whether news channels should air the footage and if Andrews, a statuesque blonde with rabid supporters, had encouraged her peeping tom by cultivating a "frat house" fan base.
"She doesn't deserve what happened to her, but part of the shtick, seems to me, is being a little bit out there in a way that then are you encouraging the complete nutcase to drill a hole in a room," USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan said in July.
Brennan later tweeted that "women sports journalists need to be smart and not play to the frat house."
By September, Andrews had gone underground, hiding out in her mother's Atlanta home, where she called 911 one day when she found paparazzi trying to photograph her through the windows.
