Four days after a Pine Township man was arrested on similar charges, a Conneautville pastor was accused of masturbating in front of an undercover officer posing as a 13-year-old girl on the Internet.

Tuesday, the state Attorney General’s Child Predator Unit charged the Rev. Steven Richard McGuigan, 39, with unlawful contact with a minor and criminal use of a computer.

Rev. McGuigan chatted with the officer at least once from his church, said Attorney General spokesman Nils Frederiksen. From his home, the pastor allegedly masturbated in front of his Web camera.

“This is the Internet version of the rain coat flasher,” Frederiksen said. “They’re using the safety and security of their own homes and the anonymity of the Internet to expose themselves to anyone who happens to be walking along electronically.”

Frederiksen said that besides corrupting minors, lewd Internet transmissions to children escalate into worse behavior and have been increasing in frequency over the years. The office has been cracking down.

On Friday, Dale L. McLaughlin, 44, of 22 Oak Hill Drive Ext., was accused of exposing himself to an agent through cartoon-themed underpants.

McLaughlin was arrested Friday at his workplace, Frederiksen said.

“If you keep your pants on when you’re chatting with 13-year-olds, this will never, ever happen to you,” he said.

Agents gave this account of Rev. McGuigan:

Starting Dec. 10, he logged onto a Yahoo! chatroom and asked the undercover officer personal questions.

He said he was involved in book sales and at first told her, “too bad you’re not older ...”

He didn’t contact the agent between Dec. 13 and Jan. 1.

Then, starting in early January, he asked for nude pictures of the girl and masturbated in a video he sent to her. He later masturbated a second time in front of his Web camera.

With a court order, agents tracked down Rev. McGuigan based on information provided by Yahoo! Inc. They said they charged him because of the graphic and escalating nature of his conversations and Web camera showings.

Escalation is one reason agents go after Web camera predators, Frederiksen said. “The performances often get more elaborate and more extensive, and the sexual discussion often gets more graphic.”