SINGAPORE: Singaporean Amos Yee, who was released on parole in the United States while serving a six-year prison sentence for child pornography and sexual grooming, now faces deportation.
Yee, 27, who was previously jailed twice in Singapore—in 2015 and 2016—for hate speech against Christianity and Islam, was released from the Danville Correctional Center in Illinois on Nov 20.
According to The Straits Times, a notification from the Victim Information and Notification Everyday (VINE) service initially indicated that Yee had been released, but a subsequent notice just seconds later showed he had been taken back into custody.
Earlier this month, Yee’s supporters noted on a blog that his release had been delayed because he did not have a suitable residence away from children, with the prison arranging a halfway house.
On Oct 6, another post reported that he had been served papers by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), potentially revoking his asylum status.
Information from the Illinois Department of Corrections shows that Yee’s projected discharge date, when he would complete parole, is still undetermined.
Yee, who has been in the US since December 2016, was granted asylum in March 2017.
He first rose to notoriety 10 years ago after posting an expletive-laden video four days following the death of Singapore’s founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew.
In 2015, he was jailed for four weeks for hate speech against Christians and for publishing an obscene image of Lee.
A year later, he was sentenced to six weeks in jail and fined $2,000 for further hate speech targeting Christianity and Islam.
In 2021, a US court sentenced Yee to six years in prison after he pleaded guilty to two charges of child pornography and grooming, offences he committed in 2019 at age 20.
Despite being told by the victim that she was 14, Yee repeatedly asked her to send nude photos and engaged in sexual role play.
Yee was first paroled on Oct 7, 2023, and was due to complete his sentence on Oct 8, 2026.
But he was taken back into custody about a month later for violating parole conditions.
As a sex offender in Illinois, his parole conditions included restrictions on internet use and being near places where children might be, unless approved by the state corrections department.
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