Iowa man sentenced for years harassing Willmar woman

An Iowa man was sentenced to a decade in federal prison for cyberstalking a Minnesota woman with conduct the judge likened to a form of mental torture.

Fifty-eight-year-old Michael McGuire, age 58, admitted to using Facebook and the mail to harass his ex-girlfriend, and to cause substantial emotional distress to her.

U.S. District Judge C.J. Williams also ordered McGuire to pay a $15,000 fine and $17,500 in restitution to the woman.

The U.S. attorney’s office said in a news release Monday that McGuire pleaded guilty in December to four counts of cyberstalking. The woman met McGuire on an online dating website in 2017 and the two dated for several months before she broke up with him.

According to public records, McGuire put up numerous sexually explicit yard signs on the victim’s lawn that contained her name, telephone number, address, and email address. At the same time, the victim’s friends, family members, and associates received sexually explicit mailings, while photos were sent to some of the victim’s contacts through Facebook and various fake dating profiles associated with her.

Kandiyohi County Sheriff Eric Holien says the victim was a resident of Willmar but some of the violations also occurred in Pipestone, Renville and Meeker Counties.

(Associated Press; JP Cola, KWLM)