It didn’t take long for former DJ and YouTuber Darryl Ian Koshy, aka Dee Kosh, to attempt to make his return to the internet spotlight after being released from prison as a convicted sex offender.
The 34-year-old served just over 7 months after being found guilty in August of last year on seven charges of sexual offenses, including offering minors money for sex acts.
The scandal-stricken personality marked his unsolicited return online last month and has since sought to control the narrative around his criminal past by releasing a 51-minute video in which he spends much of the time trying to deny, defend and explain away his actions.
At one point in the video, he claims to have apologized to his victims, saying that it would not happen again and that he wished them the best in life.
But we reached out to one of his victims, who says that Koshy never apologized to him in real life. And that he’ll always see him as a predator who targets minors.
Which calls into question just how sincere Koshy’s post-release redemption tour really is.
What Dee says
Two weeks ago, Koshy released the 51-minute video titled “My Story” under the username The Deetails on Rumble, known for being an alternative “uncensored” video platform that is most notorious for hosting alt-right content that sites like YouTube won’t touch.
During the video, the self-proclaimed “sugar daddy” laid out his version of the events that led to the allegations of sexual misconduct blowing up against him in 2020. He also dished on the facts of his case and whipped out the penal code several times to argue that news reports about his case misidentified the charges against him.
But the main message he attempted to convey was that he was not really a pedophile, which is important given that he is now apparently trying to rehabilitate his online persona and rebrand himself as an individual who gives life advice to his followers.
But according to one of his victims, Koshy is “always going to be someone who targets minors”.
What his victim says
Samuel (who doesn’t want his last name used due to privacy), was 17 years old when Koshy solicited sex from. He told Coconuts in 2020 that Koshy offered him S$1,000 to go to his home two weeks earlier. He is among at least four people who filed police reports against Koshy when allegations first broke out.
The court convicted Koshy of soliciting paid sex from four teenage boys and also admitted to secretly filming sex with another victim aged between 23 to 25 at the time.
All the victims’ identities are protected by gag order. Even though Singapore’s age of sexual consent is 16, it is illegal to pay someone under 18 for sex.
When contacted recently, Samuel told us that Koshy has yet to apologize to him.
The now 20-year-old said he went public with his story back then so that Koshy would be held accountable for his actions including lying in his public apology before being convicted. He said that Koshy will always be a predator to him.
“All I cared about was that the truth eventually prevailed so besides that I have nothing and no opinions on him. But to me, he is always going to be someone who targets minors and that will never be alright,” Samuel said.
He put it simply: one’s sexual needs should never involve minors.
“If he has needs go watch porn or something [ok] but don’t involve other boys who are below the age of 18 and also don’t involve money, that’s messed up,” Samuel said.
Just stop
They say you are the company you keep. With Koshy being at home with so many other unsavory characters on Rumble (such as conspiracy theorist Alex Jones of Infowars and notorious misogynist Andrew Tate, who was arrested for rape and human trafficking last year) – doesn’t that say enough?
There is also extensive court documentation of Koshy repeatedly targeting minors – doesn’t that say enough? After all, the best predictor of someone’s future behavior is their past behavior.
Koshy’s notoriety and media savvy gives him a massive platform to remake his public image. His victims do not have the luxury of being able to speak out openly in the same way he can. But when victims have the courage to speak out, we all need to listen.
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