Minister, electrician held in sex crimes

March 8, 2008 at 12:35a.m.

One of the men was serving as a Methodist minister when he was arrested.

HARRISBURG — Agents from the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Child Predator Unit have arrested a Conneautville minister and a Grove City electrician on charges of using the Internet to commit sex crimes.

Arrested were the Rev. Steven R. McGuigan, 39, of Washington Street, Conneautville, and Dale L. McLaughlin, 44, Oak Hill Drive Extension, Grove City.

Investigators said the arrests are examples of an increasing number of cases involving men who seek sexual gratification by sending nude photos or videos to what they believe are children.

“This is part of a growing trend we are seeing across the state,” Attorney General Tom Corbett said in a press release. The men were the 127th and 128th arrests by the unit.

Of the 64 Internet predators arrested by the Child Predator Unit over the past year, nearly 75 percent involved individuals who sent sexually explicit photos or video, Corbett said.

Corbett said McGuigan approached an undercover agent in an Internet chat room in December 2007, identifying himself as a 39-year-old man from the Meadville area. At the time, the agent was using a profile of a 13-year-old girl.

After a series of Web chats, McGuigan is alleged to have sent the “girl” a Webcam Jan. 2 that showed him naked from the waist down, masturbating in front of his computer. McGuigan was arrested Wednesday. At the time of the arrest, McGuigan was serving as a United Methodist Church minister, Corbett said.

He is charged with four third-degree felonies, each punishable by up to seven years in prison. He was arraigned by Linesville Magisterial District Judge Rita J. Marwood and placed in Crawford County Jail in lieu of $35,000 bond.

McLaughlin is alleged to have approached an undercover agent in an Internet chat room in early February, identifying himself as a 44-year-old electrician from the Slippery Rock area. The agent was using a profile for a 13-year-old girl.

On the third day of online chats, McLaughlin allegedly sent a Webcam video in which he showed his nude lower body.

He was arrested Feb. 29 in Greenville and charged with six third-degree felony counts, each punishable by up to seven years in prison. He was arraigned before Sharon Municipal Court Judge James McMahon and placed in the Mercer County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bond.