'American Idol' Contestant Sam Atherton Arrested For Lewd Conduct

FOX

Let's file this one under "Gross"! You may remember Sam Atherton from Wednesday night's season premiere of American Idol. He was awkwardly blunt and gave a performance that was quite a head-scratcher. He wanted to perform three songs and performed an original song for the judges.

Needless to say, he didn't get a golden ticket. But a few cops may have given him a real one.

TMZ has the scoop that Sam was arrested back in 2010 for "open and gross lewdness" in a frozen lemonade truck. Even worse, he was around kids at the time. Yuck!

An eyewitness told police he saw Atherton "bobbing his head up and down ... with an intense look on his face" while vigorously moving his arm and shoulder. The witness claims when he approached Atherton to confront him, the guy's pants were around his ankles.

Atherton's excuse was classic ... he said he was just scratching his foot because of a severe fungus.

Atherton was convicted on two counts of lewdness and sentenced to two years probation.