Singaporean influencer, Darryl Ian Koshy or more commonly known as Dee Kosh, has been previously hit with allegations of inappropriate behaviour online back in 2020. Dee Kosh has at one point denied all allegations in a statement posted on his Instagram story, but has conceded that “there is truth to some of the things which are being said now”. Dee Kosh has not posted on his Instagram feed since his 17 August 2020 post, but had remained active on Instagram story since allegations appeared.
In the latest development, on 19 August 2021, Dee Kosh was officially charged in court by state prosecutors for multiple offences including sexual exploitation of a young person and making obscene films.
Here’s a recap of events that led to this unfortunate outcome, starting from the latest update to the earliest accusations.
Update — 19th August 2021
Dee Kosh appears in state court and is charged with offences including: Communicating with a minor for the purpose of obtaining sexual services, sexually exploiting a young person, making an obscene film and possessing an obscene film.
Update — 17th August 2020, 10.20pm
In an Instagram post, Dee Kosh refuted some of the allegations as baseless and untrue.
However, he now admits 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 also mentioned that he believes whatever goes on in the bedroom of two consenting adults is their own private matter. He went on to say that:
“I always ask for the age of any person I proposition before we get to talking about any details just to be sure that it’s between two consenting adults.”
Dee Kosh also accepts that the screenshots of him texting with a 15-year-old was problematic and although his tone was questionable, he had absolutely no intention of sexually grooming him. He also denied ever having any sexual relations with him or with any minor.
“To me, it was a friendly conversation which was cheeky and inappropriate, but I did not take it further”
He maintains that he has never used his talent management business as a platform for anything else apart from working with all his clients for content creation and entertainment.
“My propositions for sex have always been clear and definitive.”
UPDATE — 17th August 2020, 10.00pm
Today online reported that police is investigating four police reports lodged against Dee Kosh alleging sexual harassment of teenage boys.
The report stated:
– Two reports were from incidents alleged to have happened in 2018 involving two 17 year-old boys, while one involved a boy who was 15 years old
– One report involved an incident which occured two weeks ago involving a 17-year-old, presumably, Samuel (see story below)
UPDATE — 17th August 2020, 7.05pm
Coconuts Singapore reported that Power 98 FM, where Dee Kosh worked as a DJ, announced that he is currently on leave. Power 98 FM also added that the company does not tolerance any for of harassment.
This came hot on the heels of a named attorney at DC Law firm who said that it was no longer representing Dee Kosh.
The post that started it all — Epaul’s story
Slightly before midnight on 15th August 2020, Instagram user, @_epaul (Epaul), shared a post (which has now since been deleted) alleging that Dee Kosh approached him shortly after an Instagram live he did with a friend, to enquire about his age and to let Epaul know that he was recruiting people for his channel.
Epaul explained that very quickly, Dee Kosh asked about his sexual orientation and that ‘despite me saying that I was straight, he kept messaging me on telegram, this time using the secret chat function. According to Epaul, the secret chat function on Telegram can show if the other party has screenshot or recorded any messages sent.’
Epaul went on to say that Dee Kosh continued baiting him and luring him with money, and trying to get him to perform sexual acts on Dee Kosh ‘under the guise of “it’s for a celebrity, but u (sic) must be blindfolded in order to protect the identity of him/her.’
Epaul rejected but revealed that Dee Kosh told him to send over a selfie every day so that Epaul would feel more comfortable with showing Dee his face.
Dee Kosh allegedly also:
‘kept asking for sexual favours, even using an alternate Instagram account posing as a random man to get me to agree, but I know it was him because of the way the man conversed.’
Below is the screenshot. Click to view the larger and clearer picture.
Shortly after the allegations went public, Dee Kosh allegedly DM-ed Epaul to ask if he wants to clear up anything with him first. Below is a screenshot sent directly to me by Epaul as proof of timestamp of the conversation.
UPDATE — 16th August 2020, 7pm)
Epaul has been sent a cease and desist letter by Dee Kosh’s lawyers from the law firm of DC Law LLC.
In it, Epaul is instructed to:
1. immediately cease and desist from publishing or communicating the Offending Content or similar variations thereof to any other party or on any platform and from procuring or facilitating others from doing the same;
2. immediately cease and desist from publishing or communicating any other content that is harassing, untrue or defamatory of our Client on any media or platform whatsoever and from procuring or facilitating others from doing the same;
3. within two (2) days of the date of this letter, provide us with evidence that the demand set out at paragraph 8(a) above has been complied with; and (d)
4. within two (2) days of the date of this letter, provide us with a written undertaking in the form set out at Annex A to this letter.
Telegram, Secret chats, and $1,000 — Samuel’s story
Another Instagram user, 17-year-old @sxmuel.l (Samuel) also shared his alleged encounter with Dee Kosh through a series of screenshots. In these screenshots, a Telegram user by the name of ‘deekosh’ can be seen asking Samuel to come over to his house but without specifying what he wants Samuel to do.
A tidy amount of S$1k was also offered. When Samuel pressed the sender to clarify the ‘deal’ he wants to make, user ‘deekosh’ requested they continue the conversation on Telegram sc, which we’ve now understood to mean secret chat. This is so that the conversation cannot be screenshot without ‘deekosh’ knowing.
Below are the screenshots. Click to view the larger and clearer picture.
Samuel also shared screengrabs from other people who have shared their encounters with Dee Kosh. In these pictures, Dee Kosh’s Instagram name, with a blue tick beside it, can be seen, although it’s not entirely clear who the recipients of these messages are.
Trending on Twitter
Currently, ‘dee kosh’ is trending on twitter with more twitter users coming forward with stories of their own.
What I have to say about the Dee Kosh allegations based on my experience. I’m speaking up because I hope others will come forward too and not let him get away with gaslighting any of the victims who spoke up. pic.twitter.com/epqSdrPtuo
— praveen. (@DisparateFool) August 15, 2020
kids,,, don’t be blinded by the opportunity to be infront of a camera. thankfully i didn’t have that much of a horrible experience with him but it certainly did open my eyes to the true reality of life ☠️☠️☠️☠️ pic.twitter.com/YkdCoBLa89
— BITCHLESS (@yrmotherlanjiao) August 15, 2020
https://twitter.com/gggnaaarly/status/1294665955444789253
— mr diu (@diuIei) August 15, 2020
The Snapchat from 2017
Twitter user, @angstyalexx, shared that his cousin (who wishes to remain anonymous) was once allegedly approached by Dee Kosh in 2017 via Snapchat and offered money for sexual services. His cousin at that time was said to be 17 years old. Below is the video screen grab of the conversation.
— Alex (@angstyalexx) August 16, 2020
The response by Dee Kosh
Dee Kosh has since replied on his Instagram story with the following:
Is this another big social experiment by Dee Kosh to measure how quickly netizens will cancel influencers based on hearsay? Or do these allegations carry some measure of truth?
We will keep you updated as this story progresses.
If you or someone you know needs emotional support on any matter pertaining to sexual assault, do head over to the following organisations who are best served to attend to you with utmost confidentiality:
Aware
Oogachaga
Samaritans of Singapore
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