Dee Kosh, a Singaporean YouTuber, was sentenced on Friday August 5 to more than seven months in prison for sex offenses involving potential children. In some instances, the 33-year-old has recorded his transgressions as well.
Koshy lured the victims with his stardom, according to Deputy Prosecutor Lim Ying Min, who spoke to Mashable Asia. Additionally, it was reported that he attempted to solicit sexual activity from a teenager. The teenager was a minor, according to information from the English-language Singapore daily, The Strait Times.
Six people reported Koshy to police in August 2020 after allegations against him surfaced on Instagram. He was charged with the crime of recording his sexual behavior with a man in late August 2021.
Dee Kosh
Charges against Darryl Ian Koshy, aka Dee Kosh
According to reports in the area, Dee Kosh was convicted of trying to entice a young teenager into engaging in sexual activity in exchange for money. According to other sources, Koshy made an initial offer to the person of around S$400, which was later increased to S$2,000. According to The Strait Times, Koshy first met the young man in February 2017 near the Takashimaya department store in Singapore’s Orchard Road. The person would have sold flowers at the time.
Later, Koshy apparently looked up the boy’s contact details with the help of his Instagram followers. He then contacted the person via WhatsApp and made him a job offer. When Koshy later showed up to offer the child sex in exchange for money after learning the boy didn’t have a girlfriend, the boy refused.
Dee Kosh allegedly made five such offers of sexual solicitation after the aforementioned incident. Five other people did the same in August 2020 after one of those people made their charges.
The YouTuber was charged with three counts of paying guys to have illegal sex with minors earlier this year. He was also charged with three counts of violating the Movies Act by filming his interactions with men. At least 25 of these recordings were reportedly found on his device by Singaporean authorities after his arrest. Dee Kosh has also been charged with an offense under the Children and Young Persons Act in addition to previous charges.
Although some of his victims may not have been minors, according to a local newspaper, at least four of his victims were 15 and 17 years old. In Singapore, people over the age of 16 are allowed to have such sex, but those under 18 also enjoy some legal protection against sexual abuse.
Possible punishments that Darryl Ian Koshy could have faced compared to his actual sentence
Koshy could have been sentenced to up to two years in prison under Singaporean law for every attempt he made to solicit sex from children in exchange for money. He would also have received a fine. However, the 33-year-old Filipino was only sentenced to 32 weeks in prison. The amount of the fine, if any, is not known.
Had Kosh been found guilty of using minors for sexual purposes and charged under the Children and Young Persons Act, he could have been sentenced to up to five years in prison. He would have been liable to ten years in prison, a fine of S$10,000 or both for such an offence.
The former DJ and YouTuber would have faced up to two years in prison in addition to a potential fine of S$20,000 to S$40,000 for documenting such acts in the film.
Dee Kosh was fired from Power 98FM over the allegations, and other companies like Night Owl Cinematics and Huawei productions have severed ties with the disgraced YouTuber.
