Local YouTuber and radio deejay Daryl Ian Koshy, who goes by Dee Kosh, was charged with multiple sex-related offences in court on Thursday (19 Aug).
The 32-year-old is facing seven criminal charges including three counts of communicating with a minor under 18 to obtain sexual services, one count of sexually exploiting a minor under 18, and three counts of possessing and making obscene videos of minors.
In a statement on Wednesday (18 Aug), the police said that they started investigating Koshy last year after several people on social media accused the YouTuber of asking them for nude photos and sexual favours.
The incidents occurred between 2017 and 2020.
The authorities noted that they have also received several reports of Koshy allegedly offering money to a minor below the age of 18 in exchange for sexual services.
Following his arrest, the authorities found several obscene videos in his possession. The police said that some of the videos allegedly in Koshy’s possession showed him performing sexual acts with others and were filmed without the other party’s knowledge.
If he is found guilty on the charge of sexually exploiting a person below 16 years old, Koshy could be fined up to S$10,000 or jailed up to five years, or both.
Koshy could also face up to two years in jail or a fine, or both, if found guilty of communicating for the purpose of obtaining for consideration sexual services of a minor under 18 years old.
As for making an obscene film, he could be fined between S$20,000 and S$40,000 or jailed up to two years, or both, if found guilty.
Finally, if found guilty of possession of any obscene film, he could be fined up to S$20,000 or jailed for up to six months, or both.
“The police take a tough stance against sexual crimes, particularly those that target vulnerable victims such as the young,” said the authorities.
“The police will spare no effort in ensuring that such offenders are brought to justice to face the full brunt of the law.”
Dee Kosh’s statement last year following the allegations
After the allegations against him surfaced last year, Koshy made a statement on his Instagram on 15 August 2020 denying all of it, saying that he would be “taking the necessary steps to clear this all up”.
However, just two days later, he made another statement posted across his social media accounts admitting that “there is truth to some of the things which are being said now”.
In the statement shared on his Facebook and Instagram, Koshy said that he was baffled by some of the allegations “because they were baseless and untrue”.
“However, even though I had put out on an earlier statement on Instastories denying allegations which had surfaced initially, 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,” he added.
Koshy also mentioned the circulated screenshot of him texting with a 15-year-old boy, which he then accepted as “problematic”.
“My tone was questionable, but there was absolutely no intent to groom him,” he clarified, adding that he “did not ever have any sexual relations with him or any minor”.
The Youtuber with more than 360K subscribers on his channel — down from 380K since the allegations surfaced — also rebutted the allegation of him looking for paid sex on dating apps and using his talent management business “as a platform for anything else apart from working with all our clients for content creation and entertainment”.
