Beautiful ESPN reporter Erin Andrews, who was secretly videotaped naked in her hotel room by a peephole pervert, is horrified and furious over the twisted act, her lawyer said yesterday.
“We are focused on putting this predator behind bars,” her lawyer, Marshall B. Grossman, said yesterday. “This conduct is unacceptable in a civilized society.”
Of the probe, he said only that his client and her representatives are working with authorities to bring the pervert to justice.
They are teaming with law enforcement and scouring the Web to find the creepy cameraman and make sure no more videos are up on any Web sites.
Grossman refused to identify the law-enforcement agency investigating or even where and when the videos were made.
“We will not risk the compromise of investigations through public discussion,” he said.
Andrews, last seen on air Sunday during the network’s annual ESPY Awards, will not resume broadcasting until college football kicks off in September, ESPN officials said.
Andrews, 31 — dubbed “America’s sexiest sportscaster” — was caught on tape in her hotel room with a camera that may have been handheld.
The video and screen grabs surfaced on the Web under the title “Hot naked blond who looks a lot like a sports-blogger favorite in her hotel room.”
The tape could have been made about a month ago while Andrews was covering the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
“Where was hotel security, because shouldn’t they have a camera on every floor to make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen?” fumed Andrews’ colleague, former Notre Dame hoops coach Digger Phelps.
Nebraska officials said no one from Andrews’ camp had filed a complaint with them. Authorities in Connecticut, where ESPN is based, and in Atlanta, where Andrews lives, also said they hadn’t heard from the reporter or her reps.
But in a sinister twist, there are signs the Peeping Tom may be connected with the coverage of athletic events, or had access to the room, a source said.
“You cannot just walk up to a hotel peephole and photograph through it,” said a law-enforcement expert familiar with the technology.
The source said it’s possible to get such shots only if the peephole mechanism were reversed — or if someone got into the room to rig it from the inside.
Andrews apparently feared something creepy might happen to her one day. Sports blogger Neil Best said, “She knew the fine line she was walking, and told me at Citi Field earlier this year of her concern over some of the darker corners of her fan base.”
TMZ.com reported there had been six clips found — four were shot in one hotel and two in another.
Asked if cops are grilling ESPN employees, network spokesman Josh Krulewitz said, “In conjunction with Erin’s attorney and appropriate authorities, we are exploring all possibilities.”
Additional reporting by Murray Weiss