Former Singaporean DJ and YouTuber Dee Kosh pleaded guilty to several sexual offenses for trying to pay two teenage boys for sex.
Dee Kosh, whose real name is Darryl Ian Koshy, pleaded guilty on Monday to charges of attempting to procure an indecent act from a young person and communicating with a minor to obtain sexual services. Kosh, 33, also pleaded to a third charge of making an obscene film, while four other charges are being considered for sentencing.
Kosh admitted to soliciting sexual services from the victims from 2017 to 2020. The first victim mentioned in the court document, identified only as “A1,” was a 15-year-old boy he met on Instagram in March 2018. A1 explicitly told Kosh that he was underage during their conversation.
The man later invited the boy to a Telegram “Secret Chat,” a feature on the messaging app that automatically deletes messages and informs the other party of screenshots. During their exchange, Kosh offered the boy 100 to 250 Singaporean dollars (approximately $73 to $182) in exchange for sexual services.
Kosh and A1’s communication lasted for four months until June 2018, when the boy stopped responding to Kosh’s messages. The boy said he initially did not stop his communication with the man in fear of offending him.
The Singaporean YouTuber met A2, the second victim named in the court document, while filming a video outside Takashimaya on Orchard Road in February 2017. Kosh established a connection with the victim by offering to hire him and teach him about production.
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The man communicated with the boy, who told Kosh that he was 17 years old, on WhatsApp and offered to teach him how to take selfies and “help create a confident boy.” The conversation later turned sexual when Kosh began asking the boy questions that eventually led to him telling the boy he had an “indecent proposal.”
Kosh moved their conversation to Snapchat, which has similar features to Telegram’s Secret Chat, where he asked A2 for a topless photo for him to use as leverage in case he talked. The boy did not send one, but he assured the DJ that he would remain discreet.
The topic eventually led Kosh to ask A2 what it would take for him to let someone perform a sexual act on him while blindfolded. Kosh later admitted that the person who would perform the sex act on the boy was him and later offered to pay him 400 to 2,000 Singaporean dollars (approximately $291 to $1,458) for the service, to which the boy repeatedly declined.
To preserve their conversation without the app alerting Kosh, A2 managed to record their conversation using his roommate’s phone.
The last victim in the court document, a 23 to 25-year-old man only identified as A3, accused Kosh of filming them without consent while they had sex. Kosh met the man online before inviting him over to his home. Thinking the invitation could lead to a potential recruitment at the YouTuber’s company, A3 agreed.
The meeting led to sex, and that relationship, which involved paid and unpaid sexual services, lasted from 2016 to 2020. On one occasion, A3 said Kosh used a hidden camera to secretly film them having sex sometime between 2016 and 2017.
The victims did not report Kosh to the police believing that they were the only victims and were afraid of retaliation from Kosh due to his influence as an online celebrity, Deputy Public Prosecutor Lim Ying Min said. Kosh reportedly had 224,000 followers on Instagram and 379,000 subscribers on YouTube when the incident came to light.
Kosh was arrested on Oct. 5, 2020, two months after A1 came forward to report the YouTuber to police. He was charged in August 2021 and is expected to be sentenced on July 28. Power 98, the station he previously worked for, suspended the DJ without pay after he was charged.
Kosh could face a maximum of five years in jail and/or a fine of up to 10,000 Singaporean dollars (approximately $7,300) if found guilty under the Children and Young Persons Act for attempted sexual exploitation of a young person.
He could also face up to two years in prison and a fine if found guilty of communications for the purpose of obtaining sexual services of a minor, and two years and a fine between 20,000 and 40,000 Singaporean dollars (approximately $14,500 and $29,000) for making an obscene film.
Image via Dee Kosh
