Amos Yee, a former YouTuber and activist from Singapore, has been released on parole in the United States, raising concerns among citizens and advocates for child protection.
Yee, who had been serving a six-year jail term for grooming a teenage girl and possessing child pornography, was released just halfway into his sentence.
The Straits Times reported that the unexpected development came to light as Yee’s status on the VINELink mobile app, which notifies victims of crimes about offenders’ current statuses, showed that he was out of custody on Saturday afternoon, Singapore time.
He had been incarcerated at the Illinois River Correctional Centre, a medium-security state prison in Fulton County, Illinois, approximately three hours from Chicago. Originally, his release was not expected until Oct. 8, 2026, as his jail term had been backdated to his arrest in October 2020.
The charges against Yee stemmed from his actions in February 2019 when, at the age of 20, he repeatedly solicited explicit photos from a 14-year-old girl in Texas via WhatsApp.
Yee also engaged in explicit role-play and exchanged thousands of messages with the underage victim. Despite the girl’s insistence on disclosing her age, Yee instructed her to remove her age from her WhatsApp profile.
During his sentencing in December 2021, Yee accepted a plea deal that resulted in 16 other child pornography-related charges being dismissed.
As a consequence of his actions, he is now required to be listed on the sex offender registry in the United States and faces potential deportation, as his asylum status could be revoked.
Judge Carol Howard had advised Yee during his sentencing that pleading guilty to these charges could lead to deportation, denial of admission to the US, or denial of naturalization as a US citizen in the future.
These convictions could also negatively impact his ability to secure housing, employment, and various licenses, including a driver’s license.
The Singaporean national fled his home country for the United States in December 2016, just one day before he was due to report for a medical examination ahead of his national service enlistment.
In 2017, he was granted political asylum in the US, citing persecution for his political opinions following two separate jail terms in Singapore.
In 2015, Yee was sentenced to four weeks in jail for engaging in hate speech against Christians in a YouTube video and publishing an obscene image of former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
The following year, he faced further charges for derogatory comments about Christianity and Islam in videos and blog posts, resulting in a six-week jail term and a S$2,000 fine.
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