YouTuber Dee Kosh convicted of offering cash to boy for sexual services

SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/Asia News Network): YouTuber Darryl Ian Koshy (pic), better known as Dee Kosh, who offered cash to a boy below 18 for sexual services was convicted on Monday (May 30).

The 33-year-old pleaded guilty to one charge for the offence and also pleaded guilty to another charge under the Children and Young Persons Act for the attempted sexual exploitation of a young person.

He also pleaded guilty to a charge under the Films Act for making an obscene film. He had filmed himself engaging in sexual acts with a man aged between 23 and 25 years old.

Four other charges will be taken into consideration during his sentencing.

Koshy was asked to attend medical examinations at the Institute of Mental Health before he is sentenced.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Lim Ying Min said the offences took place between 2017 and 2020.

Koshy offered $2,000 to a 16-year-old in exchange for allowing him to perform oral sex on the teenager.

He also tried to procure an indecent act from a 15-year-old by asking the boy to perform sexual acts in exchange for money. Koshy was present in court and was represented by Mr Johannes Hadi.

Koshy was famous for making parody music videos and for his stand-up comedy.

Accusations against him first made the headlines in 2020.

Then, he had 380,000 followers on his YouTube channel and was known for food reviews on the Night Owl Cinematics (NOC) YouTube channel. He currently has 359,000 followers.

In an earlier statement, NOC had said all further collaborations with Dee Kosh had been put on hold indefinitely.

Several other firms Koshy had previously worked with, including Huawei, foodpanda and Lenovo, had saidtheir engagements with him had ended.

Power 98, where he used to host weekday night shows, said in 2020 he had been put on leave.

For each count of offering cash to a youngster below 18 in exchange for sexual services, he could have been jailed for up to two years and fined.

For the attempted sexual exploitation of a young person, he could have been jailed for up to five years, fined up to $10,000, or both under the Children and Young Persons Act.