To Be Broadcast Tomorrow, November 21st

New York, NY—November 20, 2012—Wand waving magicians and balloon bending clowns are a popular choice of entertainment at kids’ birthday parties. But a special INSIDE EDITION investigation has uncovered registered sex offenders working as child entertainers.

For $325, INSIDE EDITION booked Bob the Magician to entertain kids at a ten-year old’s birthday in Dallas, TX. In his younger years, Bob the Magician starred alongside Mickey Rooney, Jon Voight and Randy Travis—performing magic tricks for them in the movie Boys Will Be Boys.

But Bob the Magician has a dark secret he can't make disappear. His real name is Robert Markwood and he's a convicted sex offender, who served 12 years for sexually molesting a boy.

When Bob showed up at our birthday party, he didn’t realize we had hidden cameras planted everywhere and had actually hired child actors whose parents knew we were investigating Bob. Bob explained the protocol to INSIDE EDITION’S Lisa Guerrero, who he thought was the homeowner.

BOB THE MAGICIAN: “I have about a 40 minute magic show. So I’m basically here to babysit the kids.”

But we never let that happened and kept the children outside with their parents the entire time Bob was in the house. After Bob demonstrated a few of his nifty tricks, Guerrero revealed who she really was.  

LISA GUERRERO: “Aren’t you a registered sex offender?”

BOB THE MAGICIAN: “Yes.”

GUERRERO: “Then what are you doing at children’s parties?”

BOB THE MAGICIAN: “Well, they hired me to come here. That was all.”

GUERRERO: “Do you think it’s fair to these parents that you don’t let them know you’ve been convicted? Can’t you find another line of work?”

Bob was left speechless and quickly packed up his bag of tricks and vanished.

The Smith County Sheriff’s Office is now actively investigating whether Bob violated his conditions as a registered sex offender by appearing at our party and several others in the Dallas area.

INSIDE EDITION also found cases around the country of child performers—clowns and musicians—who have been convicted of molestation, some even while in costume.

Follow INSIDE EDITION PR on Twitter:

###