Singapore — Singaporean Amos Yee, who has been infamous for his run-ins with the law and public support of child pornography, appeared in a Chicago court via Zoom on Thursday (Oct. 21). He was remanded.

During his hearing on Thursday morning (Oct 21), it was made known that a resolution is being negotiated between a special prosecutor and a lawyer for Yee.

According to the Legal Information Institute, a special prosecutor is one who is independent of an office that would normally exercise jurisdiction in a criminal investigation. This is to avoid potential conflicts of interest or to facilitate subject matter area expertise. They are sometimes called to prosecute high profile cases.

22-year-old Yee faces 18 charges, including grooming, indecently soliciting a child, and possession of child pornography.

Yee was represented by a public defender, an attorney-at-law appointed by the courts and provided by the state or federal governments to represent and advise those who cannot afford to hire a private attorney.

According to a CNA report, Yee’s public defender said that she is negotiating with the special prosecutor for the case, who was not available during the court hearing on Oct 21. She added that she would call Yee after hearing from the prosecutor about the negotiations. Yee is set to return to court in November 2021.

Read related: We almost forgot Amos Yee liao

On May 8, Yee appeared before a Chicago court via Zoom for a short hearing. During the hearing, Yee’s public defender — a lawyer employed by the state in a criminal trial to represent a defendant who is unable to afford legal assistance — said he needed to visit Yee in remand to go over some matters with him.

“We did get an additional discovery that I was able to review and I need to go over that with Mr Yee. But I do believe we will likely have a disposition to this matter,” said lawyer Ali Ammoura, without specifying what the discovery was.

Yee was set to come before the court again on June 2. However, days later, there still seems to be no word on this man-child.

Last November, this former YouTuber and blogger pleaded not guilty in a Chicago court to all charges related to his arrest for child pornography.

He was arrested on Oct 14 and indicted formally by a grand jury on Nov 4.

The accused was alleged to have exchanged nude photos and “thousands” of messages in 2019 with a Texas girl who was then 14 years old while he was living in Chicago, according to a report by the Chicago Sun-Times.

Prosecutors say they obtained messages Yee exchanged between April and July 2019 that included nude photos he requested and received from the girl, and nude photos of himself that he sent to the minor.

Prosecutors said the girl repeatedly brought up her age in the messages, but Yee instructed her to remove her age from her profile on WhatsApp.

When their relationship eventually soured, she reached out to a group interested in exposing paedophiles. /TISG

Amos Yee pleads not guilty in US to child pornography and grooming charges