Iowa Man Charged With Interstate and Cyber Stalking

Michael Shawn McGuire, age 56, from Cresco, Iowa, has been charged with two counts of interstate stalking and one count of cyber stalking.­  The charges are contained in an Indictment unsealed on December 3, 2019, in United States District Court in Cedar Rapids. ­

The Indictment alleges that, on or about August 25, 2018, and May 25, 2019, McGuire traveled from Iowa to Minnesota with the intent to harass the victim and caused the victim to experience substantial emotional distress.  The Indictment further alleges, that, between on or about September 10, 2018, and September 20, 2018, McGuire engaged in a course of conduct by using Facebook to harass, intimidate, and cause substantial emotional distress to the victim. 

If convicted on all charges, McGuire faces a possible maximum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment, a $750,000 fine, and three years of supervised release following any imprisonment.­

McGuire appeared today in federal court in Cedar Rapids and after a hearing, was held without bond.  Evidence at the hearing established that on August 25, 2018, and May 25, 2019, numerous yard signs were posted in Minnesota, where the victim resides.  The signs were sexually explicit and contained the victim’s name, telephone number, address, and email address.  During this same time period, various friends, family members, and associates of the victim received sexually explicit mailings with semi-nude photos of the victim.  In addition, various Facebook profiles sent similar semi-nude photos to some of the victim’s contacts through Facebook and various fake dating profiles associated with the victim were created. 

McGuire’s next appearance for trial is set for February 3, 2020. 

As with any criminal case, a charge is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lisa C. Williams and was investigated by the Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 19-CR-2075.

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