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	Minister Pleads Guilty to Charges By Tim Hahn Erie Times-News June 03, 2008 http://www.goerie.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080603/NEWS02/806030370/-1/NEWS MEADVILLE — A minister who was once in charge of two Conneautville-area Methodist churches faces up to 28 years in prison after admitting he sent sexually explicit comments and photos online. Steven R. McGuigan, 39, of Conneautville, pleaded guilty Monday afternoon in Crawford County court to two counts each of criminal use of a communication facility and unlawful contact with a minor-obscene and other sexual materials and performances. Each of the third-degree felony charges is punishable by up to seven years in prison and a $15,000 fine. Agents with the state Attorney General's Office Child Predator Unit filed the charges in early March after accusing McGuigan of sending sexually explicit materials online in December and January. McGuigan thought he was communicating with a 13-year-old girl named Brianna in a Yahoo Messenger chat room between Dec. 10 and Jan. 22, according to the criminal complaint filed by agent David K. Frattare of the Child Predator Unit. But "Brianna" turned out to be an agent with the Attorney General's Office, prosecutors said. McGuigan was returned to the Crawford County Correctional Facility on $10,000 bond after the hearing. Crawford County President Judge Gordon Miller denied a motion by McGuigan's lawyer, Crawford County First Assistant Public Defender Bruce Barrett, to have the bond reduced to a nominal amount. McGuigan will return to court for sentencing on Sept. 12, after he undergoes an assessment to determine whether he is a sexually violent predator under Pennsylvania's Megan's Law. McGuigan did not address the allegations brought against him as he stood before Miller on Monday afternoon. He did, however, admit to Miller that he exposed his genitals on a webcam while having online conversations with "Brianna." But after pleading guilty to the two unlawful-contact charges, McGuigan told the judge that the agents who arrested him on March 5 handed him a piece of paper that listed his Miranda rights, but they did not read them to him. McGuigan also said that he was never told what he was being charged with until agents had taken him into custody and questioned him. At that point, Deputy Attorney General William F. Caye II, who is prosecuting the case, said that prosecutors would withdraw the plea and take the case to trial. After a short recess during an afternoon of pleas before Miller, Barrett told the judge that McGuigan had misunderstood some of the judge's questions and would go through with the plea. McGuigan then pleaded guilty to the two charges of criminal use of a communication facility. McGuigan was serving as pastor of the Valley and the Hickernell United Methodist churches when, according to state agents, he first approached the undercover agent online on Dec. 10 and asked "Brianna" questions that included whether she got naked at parties, according to the complaint. An online conversation held two days later became more sexual and graphic, and was followed by a Jan 2 conversation in which McGuigan used a webcam to show his genitals, according to the criminal complaint. Agents said McGuigan had four more sexually explicit conversations with the undercover agent in January, including one in which McGuigan sent more webcam images of his genitals, according to the complaint. McGuigan, who has been in the Western Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church since 2000 and has served in Conneautville since 2004, was removed from his pastoral duties after his March 5 arrest. Church leaders said his future will be determined once the criminal case is resolved and they complete an internal investigation. TIM HAHN can be reached at (814) 724-6979
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