Black Collar Crime
Internet sex sting snares Conneautville minister
By Keith Gushard
03/06/08 —
LINESVILLE — A United Methodist Church minister from Conneautville arrested Wednesday on Internet pornography charges has been suspended from his ministerial duties — including that as the church district youth minister. The Rev. Steven Richard McGuigan, 39, of 905 Washington St., Conneautville, was arraigned Wednesday before Magisterial District Judge Rita Marwood in Linesville on two counts each of unlawful contact with minors and two counts of criminal use of a communication facility.
<snip>
McGuigan was pastor of both Valley United Methodist Church in Conneautville and Hickernell United Methodist Church since November 2004. He also served as district youth leader for the Erie-Meadville district of the United Methodist Church.
<snip>
The Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General alleges McGuigan engaged in sexually explicit e-mail conversations in Internet chat rooms with what he believed was a 13-year-old seven different times between December 2007 and January, including one from chat from his place of employment — the church. Authorities also allege that during two of the conversations McGuigan sent sexually explicit videos of himself to her via the Internet.
<snip>
Dressed in a striped golf shirt and black jeans, McGuigan said little at his arraignment before Marwood. He told the judge that he briefly had received mental health counseling from the Pittsburgh Pastoral Institute in the past.
More:
http://www.meadvilletribune.com/local/local_story_065230207.html