On Wednesday (Aug 3), the prosecution sought a sentence of five to eight months in jail for YouTuber Darryl Ian Koshy, adding that he intended to contextualise his charges through a 9-min 34-sec video posted by Koshy in January.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Lim Ying Ming told the State Courts that this could amount to “sub-judice conduct”, referring to conduct that could prejudice proceedings before the court. He made his comments public, knowing his case had not been dealt with in court. DPP Lim also said that Koshy’s offences were highly premeditated.
33-year-old Koshy’s lawyer Johannes Hadi said his client did not intend to challenge court proceedings with the video but was instead looking to address inaccurate reports and false rumours floating around in the public.
He also said psychiatric reports on his client – who was not diagnosed with the paedophilic disorder – showed that he was remorseful and had low prospects of re-offending, and urged the court to sentence him to two and a half months in jail.
The court previously heard that Koshy’s victims ranged from 15 to 23 years old at the time of his respective offences from 2017 to 2020. They cannot be named due to court orders to protect their identities.
Koshy used his verified accounts on these channels to convince them of his identity. After briefly chatting and ascertaining their ages, he proposed moving their conversations to messaging application Telegram and invited them to a secret chat.
At the start of the hearing, Koshy appeared calm and collected, but as time wore on, he could be seen removing his mask as he dabbed his eyes and could be heard sniffling.
Several of Koshy’s supporters, including his father and prominent blogger Wendy Cheng, better known by her moniker Xiaxue, were in court.
The First Victim
Dee Kosh messaged his first victim in March 2018 using Instagram. When the victim said that he was under 16 years of age, Dee Kosh suggested moving their conversation to a Telegram “Secret Chat”.
In the Secret Chat, messages could be set to be automatically deleted and Kosh would be notified if a screenshot was taken. The messages could not be forwarded to others.
Dee Kosh offered the victim S$100 to S$250 in exchange for sexual services.
The Second Victim
Dee Kosh met his second victim outside Takashimaya along Orchard Road during a video shoot in February 2017. They briefly spoke and started communicating via WhatsApp Messenger.
The victim informed Dee Kosh that he was under the age of 18. Despite this, Dee Kosh suggested that the victim work for him, offering to teach him about production work, how to take selfies and “help create a confident boy”.
Dee Kosh’s conversation with the victim was recorded on video by the victim’s roommate using another phone.
After initiating a “question game” during one of their conversations, Dee Kosh started to ask the victim questions of a sexual nature. He then told the victim that he had an “indecent proposal”. He suggested that they move their conversation to Snapchat, which shares some of the features of a “Secret Chat”.
Dee Kosh also asked the victim for a shirtless picture so that he could “blackmail” him if he talked. The boy did not oblige but assured Dee Kosh that he would not talk.
Dee Kosh also asked the victim what it would take for him to allow someone to perform a sexual act on him, adding that he would be blindfolded and would not know the gender of the person.
Eventually, Dee Kosh revealed that the person who would perform the sexual act was himself, and offered S$400 if the victim would let him do so. He gradually raised this amount to S$2,000 after the victim repeatedly declined the offer.
The Third Victim
In 2016, Dee Kosh invited his third victim, who was 23 to 25 years old at the time, to his house. The victim went because he thought it might lead to a recruitment opportunity at Dee Kosh’s production company.
Dee Kosh performed a sexual act on the victim. Subsequently, the victim would go to Dee Kosh’s house, and they engaged in paid and unpaid sexual acts from 2016 to 2020.
On one of these occasions between 2016 and 2017, Dee Kosh used a hidden camera to film them having sex. This was done without the victim’s knowledge or consent.
If convicted under the Children and Young Persons Act for attempted sexual exploitation of a young person, he could be jailed for up to five years, fined up to S$10,000 or both.
If found guilty of communications for the purpose of obtaining sexual services of a minor, he could be jailed for up to two years or fined, or both.
The penalty for making an obscene film is a jail term of up to two years and a fine of between S$20,000 and S$40,000. /TISG