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YouTube videos land S.C. man back in jail

Today's blotter:

Here's the story from The Orlando Sentinel's Anthony Colarossi.

TAVARES, Fla. (MCT) — On the YouTube video-sharing Web site, Edward Muscare is known by his user name "Edarem," and his recordings show an older man lip syncing and singing songs such as Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman." Many of them have drawn hundreds of thousands of page views.

Muscare's online fame, though, helped land him back in jail.

Muscare's videos have become so viral that law enforcement in Florida and South Carolina, where he has been living, became aware of his online presence. The former Lake County, Fla., resident was jailed for violating probation and for not complying with conditions related to his status as a registered sex offender.

One of those conditions was that he not use the Internet or other computer services, according to court records.

Now, some of Muscare's YouTube followers are coming to his defense by posting messages online, urging "Freedom for Edward Muscare" and "Libertad para Edarem."

One Muscare supporter has posted a lengthy message addressed to Lake Circuit Judge Mark Hill on YouTube.

"I am writing you on behalf of an individual who is now in jail for posting videos of his dogs and advice on how to scratch your back ..." the YouTube user wrote. "If there is any justice in the world Edward Muscare will be liberated."

Muscare, 77, has an arraignment scheduled for Monday. His case ultimately will go before Hill, who sentenced Muscare two years ago for failure to comply with sex-offender reporting requirements.

Court records show Muscare avoided a five-year prison sentence when he pleaded guilty in 2007 and received five years probation with special conditions of sex-offender probation. He had apparently moved out of his Lady Lake, Fla., home and up to a new residence in Orangeburg, S.C., but he failed to notify officials about the move as required.

In a letter sent to Hill at that time, Muscare wrote, "In the past 21 years, the only law I broke was leaving Florida in December 2005 without notifying the Sheriff's Office. And I did that only because of threats to my life and property."

Muscare declined a request for an interview Friday at the Lake County Jail.