Erin Andrews' Alleged Stalker Michael David Barrett Released on Bond

Michael David Barrett, the man arrested for allegedly altering a peephole to film a naked Erin Andrews, is being portrayed by his friends as a "normal guy" despite allegations that he persistently stalked Andrews for some time.

On Monday, the Los Angeles Times reported that "authorities allege Barrett called 14 hotels in Milwaukee in July 2008 to determine where Andrews was staying while she covered a Major League Baseball game."

Marshall Grossman, Andrews' lawyer, filed a complaint last Friday criticizing a Nashville Marriott for granting Barrett's request for a room right next to Andrews in September 2008. It was at that hotel that Barrett allegedly "used a cellphone camera to record Andrews after removing the door's peephole and altering it with a hacksaw."

Via the Associated Press:

Meanwhile, friends and family paint a wholly different picture of the Michael D. Barrett they know. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, they were stunned by the news.

"He's a normal, upper-middle class, nice guy,'' said a relative, who asked not to be identified. "It seems so strange. In my wildest dreams, this is unfathomable."

Barrett's defense attorney, Rick Beuke, is also a friend of 10 years. "He's a great friend and a good man. I've gotten calls from 30 of his friends in the last 10 hours asking how they can help." Beuke has also described his client as having plenty of money and a good track record at work.

But in light of the charges, Combined Insurance Co., the Glenview, Ill. insurance firm that employs Barrett, said Barrett has been suspended indefinitely . Beuke described the company as "very supportive," although a company spokesperson admitted that "there is no timeframe with [Barrett's] suspension."

Still, as information emerges, Barrett appears to have led a secret life, one that involved stalking, and illegally videotaping women without their consent before trying to sell the footage to internet gossip sites. The former insurance executive, released today on a a $4,500 bond, is due in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Oct. 23 to face federal charges of internet stalking.

And more from the AP:

[Barrett] ... was ordered to wear an ankle monitoring bracelet, to adhere to a strict curfew and not to use the Internet. ... [He] continues to be a danger to Andrews and "a danger to other women," Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Grimes told U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlander Keys during Barrett's bond hearing Monday.

Grimes continued, "Yes, Judge, there are other women ... He has used his computer to disseminate these videos to the world."

If Barrett is convicted, interstate stalking carries a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.