MUSKEGON -- A Michigan man has been sentenced to jail for splicing together a video that made it appear he was singing a sexual song to elementary school students.

21-year-old Evan Emory of Fruitport visited first grade students at Ravenna’s Beechnau Elementary School in January.  He is a musician, who attended that elementary school, and went back to play for the students.  He video taped his performance, and later edited it to make it appear he had been singing sexually explicit lyrics to the class.  He posted the spliced video to youtube.com.

While Emory hadn’t actually sang those lyrics in the classroom, officials charged him for “manufacturing child abusive material.”

In another youtube.com interview conducted by Grant Crowell of ReelSEO on March 19th, Emory says he apologized to the school and family for video taping the children without parent’s permission, and stated he didn’t intend to cause any distress to the students.  You can watch that lengthy interview below.

Tuesday, A Muskegon County judge sentenced Emory to 60 days in jail, two years probation, and 200 hours of community service.  In an article by NBC25’s sister station in Grand Rapids, WOOD-TV, parents say Emory showed little remorse in the court while getting his sentence.  The article states Emory was pointing out attractive females, and was making jokes with the prosecution. The same report states that Emory’s attorneys say their client just “showed poor judgment” and is a person “ready and willing to make it right.”

How do you feel about this case?  Is it freedom of speech for Emory to post this mock-video on YouTube, or is it “manufacturing child abusive material.” Leave us your comments below or on the NBC25 Facebook page.