Innocent plea in Erin Andrews nude case

Reuters

FAMOUS FACE: Erin Andrews arrives at the 2009 ESPY Awards in Los Angeles in July.

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A Chicago insurance man has pleaded not guilty to charges that he peeped into television sports reporter Erin Andrews' hotel room when she was nude, took video of her and tried to sell the footage.

Michael David Barrett, who is free on US$100,000 bond and was charged in federal court in Los Angeles, faces up to five years in federal prison if convicted.

He is accused of secretly shooting videos of Andrews through peepholes at hotels in Nashville, Tennessee, Columbus, Ohio, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and posting the footage on the web after trying to sell it to celebrity site TMZ.com.

Investigators say that at a hotel where Andrews stayed last year, the peephole in the door was altered and that Barrett specifically requested and stayed in the room next to Andrews.

Andrews is a reporter for US cable sports network ESPN, which is owned by the Walt Disney Co.

An attorney for Andrews has said she had "no idea her privacy was being invaded".

US Magistrate Judge Carolyn Turchin has ordered Barrett to serve house arrest under electronic monitoring and have no internet access.

His trial is scheduled to start January 12.

- Reuters