Kandiyohi County, Renville County sheriff’s offices, Willmar Police involved in tracking down Iowa man guilty of cyberstalking

The Kandiyohi and Renville County Sheriff’s Offices, and Willmar Police Department, were involved in tracking down an Iowa man who used Facebook and the mail to stalk a person in Minnesota.

Michael Shawn McGuire, age 57, from Cresco, Iowa, pled guilty on Friday in federal court in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and was convicted of four counts of cyberstalking.

At the plea hearing, McGuire admitted that he used Facebook and the mail to engage in conduct to harass and intimidate another person and cause substantial emotional distress to that person. Evidence from a previous hearing in this case established that between August 25, 2018, and May 25, 2019, numerous yard signs were posted where the victim resided in Minnesota.

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 mailings with photos of the victim. In addition, various Facebook profiles sent similar photos to some of the victim’s contacts through Facebook and various fake dating profiles associated with the victim were created.

McGuire remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. McGuire faces a possible maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, a possible $250,000 fine per count, and up to 3 years of supervised release following any imprisonment.