Evan Emory, a musician who posts his material on YouTube, recently uploaded a video that might earn him 20 years in prison. Yes, you read that correctly. One totally harmless video. Twenty years in prison.

Attorneys, however, told WoodTV8 that the felony charge may be unconstitutional. Curt Benson, professor at the Thomas M. Cooley Law School, said the trial could pose “a constitutional question” because it violates Emory’s First Amendment right to freedom of speech.

So let’s back up. What’s this all about? The 21-year-old Emory posted a video of himself on YouTube singing a sexually explicit song to elementary school students. Before you take the side of law enforcement, it’s not as raunchy and inappropriate as it sounds. The video was only edited to make it appear as if young children were in the classroom, even though they weren’t. Emory posted two disclaimers on the video that elementary school students were not exposed to the explicit lyrics.

If Emory is charged with the count of manufacturing child sexual abusive material he is facing, he could spend 20 years in prison for what he says was just a joke. Muskegon County Prosecutor Tony Tague said Michigan law ‘provides penalty’ for those who actually manufacture child sexual abusive material ‘but also has a provision for those who make it appear that the children were actually abused.’

The footage of the children was recorded a month ago when Emory performed a clean song for the class, said Ravenna schools’ Superintendent John B. VanLoon (is that seriously his name? Amazing!). It was only later that Emory returned to the empty classroom to record a vulgar song, which he cleverly edited with clips of the children and posted to YouTube on Monday.

there's a little more in the full article including an incredibly insipid interview from CNN. the part that sticks out in my mind is the fact that the state wants to charge him as a sexual predator and register him as sex offender for what basically amounts to a satirically edited video.