A 33-year-old YouTuber from Singapore accused of offering money to underage boys for sexual acts is expected to plead guilty, his lawyer said
Singaporean influencer DJ Dee Kosh is expected to plead guilty to multiple sex offenses. His lawyers told a Singapore district court on Tuesday that he would admit to offering money to boys under the age of 18 for sexual acts, the Singaporean outlet .
Koshy's lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam did not return Insider's request for comment on Tuesday. Koshy in a said he planned to upload a video to YouTube on Wednesday.
"After all this time, I'm ready to talk," he said.
The allegations first emerged in August 2020, when Koshy, whose legal name is Darryl Ian Koshy, on social media denied having sexual relations with a 15-year-old. Days later, he deleted his initial statement and apologized for the "problematic" and "inappropriate" way he texted a minor.
"I now admit that there is truth to some of the things which are being said now, and I am sorry to the people I have hurt in the process," .
Koshy, who is 33, was accused of sending nude photos to minors and offering money to four boys for sexual favors. , five victims came forward publicly and posted their conversations with Koshy online.
In one case, Koshy is accused of offering a 16-year-old boy $2,000 to let him perform oral sex on him, according to the report. Three other boys aged between 15 and 17 made similar allegations.
"My tone was questionable, but there was absolutely no intent to groom him," Koshy said in his Instagram statement. "Let me state categorically that I did not ever have any sexual relations with him or any minor."
He added that "it was a friendly conversation" which was "cheeky and inappropriate."
"But I did not take it any further," he said.
Koshy was released on a S$20,000 bail ($14,800) until his court hearing which began this week. He is facing seven charges in total — three counts of sexually communicating with person under age 18 to pay for sex; one charge of sexual exploitation of a child or young person; and three regarding the possession and creation of obscene films.
Koshy's lawyer told the court on Tuesday that he is "ready to take a certain course of action," and asked for a 10-12 week break before the next hearing, , as the case contained "some complexities."
In August 2020, the YouTube channel Night Owl Cinematics (NOC) halted its projects with Koshy.
"We can confirm that he has no outstanding or ongoing projects with NOC at present," they said at the time, . "All further collaborations with Dee Kosh have been put on hold indefinitely."
Koshy has 362,000 subscribers on his own YouTube channel. His last YouTube video was posted in August 2020, the same month the allegations against him surfaced.
Dodgson, L. (2022, January 25). A 33-year-old YouTuber from Singapore accused of offering money to underage boys for sexual acts is expected to plead guilty, his lawyer said. Insider. https://www.insider.com/youtuber-dee-kosh-expected-to-plead-guilty-sex-related-charges-2022-1