Pastor accused of online lewd acts

By Matt Snyder
Herald Staff Writer

CONNEAUTVILLE March 07, 2008 09:55 pm

— 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.”
He said parents should know that even if their children have no Web camera, they can still watch transmitted footage.
Cases of Web camera abuses on the Internet have risen from about 25 percent of the cases they handle to 75 percent, Frederiksen said.
Predators who travel to meet children have remained about steady, he said. Those who travel are charged with a higher-degree felony. He added that agents see Web camera behavior often escalate to arranging meetings or viewing child pornography.
Rev. McLaughlin had arranged a meeting with the undercover officer he’d been speaking to, but never showed up at the meeting, Frederiksen said.
The Child Predator Unit tries to get predators before they have contact with children, he said, although over the last three years there have been cases where they failed.
“And those disturb us greatly,” Frederiksen said.
Computers have been seized from both Rev. McGuigan and McLaughlin and will be searched for evidence in both cases and for other illegal activities, Frederiksen said.
McLaughlin was taken to Mercer County Jail. His bail was set at $50,000 and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for Wednesday before District Judge Lawrence T. Silvis.
Rev. McGuigan was suspended by United Methodist Bishop Thomas Bickerton, who will lead services at the two Conneautville-area churches Rev. McGuigan pastored.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.