Musician Uncle Kracker, born Matthew Shafer, was arrested Friday morning on a second-degree sex offense charge and is currently free on bail.
The 33-year-old rock-country musician is free on $75,000 bail, after being arrested several hours earlier on Friday morning for allegedly committing a second-degree forcible sex offense near Raleigh, North Carolina, TMZ.com dutifully reports.
According to local authorities, the singer was arrested after a 26-year-old woman accused him of having committed a sexual act against her in a North Carolina nightclub called Ess Lounge, where he was scheduled to perform.
Shafer's local attorney, James A. Crouch, has not yet commented on the situation for the press.
Police spokesman Jim Sughrue said Kracker and his accuser did not know each other. He declined to divulge further details regarding the nature of the crime, according to a report from E!Online. No further details were offered.
E!Online also reports that Shafer made comments which made the police believe he wished to return to his native Michigan. The court subsequently deemed the singer “an exceptionally high flight risk” due to his notoriety as a “nationally known singer with major assets at his disposal,” and bail was set at $5 million.
It was later changed to $75,000.
TMZ.com gets right to the heart of the matter, as usual, and reports that an arrest warrant it managed to obtain shows that Shafer is accused of “unlawfully, willfully and feloniously [engaging] in a sexual act other than vaginal intercourse” by force and without the consent of the victim.
Uncle Kracker has been around the music industry for some time now. As a longtime friend of rocker Kid Rock, he first became famous as a turntablist for his friend during early tours.
He followed this with his debut album, “Double Wide,” which included his signature hit “Follow Me.”
He has recently turned to country music, enjoying success alongside Kenny Chesney, with whom he sings “When the Sun Goes Down,” from the latter’s album “No Stranger to Shame.”
Matthew Shafer’s most recent album is 2004’s “Seventy Two and Sunny.”