"Singing Sex Offender" Edward Muscare Jailed After Becoming YouTube Sensation
The 72-year-old's videos have drawn almost 3 million views on his YouTube channel. But law enforcement hasn't been enamored with Muscare's public performances and the crooked crooner's next hit might be "Jailhouse Rock."
Muscare was arrested for his online warblings, and will be sentenced Jan. 6 on charges that he violated his probation. He is currently performing exclusively at the Lake County Jail, about 40 miles northwest of Orlando.
"For one-time offenders who have done their best, who have paid their debt to society, have lived a good life, they should give them a break and say, 'Hey, he's done his part,'" Muscare said to CBS affiliate WKMG.
In 1987, Muscare pleaded no contest to sexually battering a 14-year-old Orlando boy.
"I would never sexually offend again, but we can't help but sin. We're all human beings," Muscare told the station.
Muscare has had problems with probation before. At one point, he said he was being harassed by neighbors, so he decided not to register his address.
"I wanted to hide from the (sexual offender) registry, and I hid successfully in South Carolina, until one day the deputy sheriff showed up with a warrant for my arrest," Muscare told WKMG.
Muscare said he considers himself no threat to society and he hopes a judge will see his case the same way, even possibly allowing him to post on YouTube again… legally.
"I'm an entertainer, and I've entertained all my life," Muscare said to WKMG. "They're done in fun and I'm sure that most of the people see it that way."
Many of his YouTube fans do. Muscare's channel has more than 4000 comments, many of them posted after his recent arrest.
"edarem! i'm gonna send you a file in a cake! what's your favourite topping?" wrote frostytheaussie last week.
"A simple Google search will reveal a lot about this very talented man who is still loved and remembered by many," Chris Hooch, another commenter, wrote on the same day.
According to fan sites, in the 1970s Muscare hosted a late night horror program on a local Kansas City cable channel. He dressed himself as a vampire and was called "Uncle Ed."
Story Contributed by CBS Affiliate WKMG Click Orlando