24-Year-Old Amos Yee Released From US Prison After Serving Only Half Of His Sentence
The last we heard of Amos Yee, he was languishing in prison in the United States (US).
He was serving a six-year sentence after being convicted of grooming and possessing child pornography.
However, the Singaporean has now been released early after serving only about half of his sentence.
Source: Illinois Department of Corrections
Though he’s out, he will have to carry his offence with him for a lifetime — his name must be listed on the Sex Offender Registry.
Journalist gets alert that Amos Yee would be released
Yee’s impending release was disclosed by Michigan journalist Wali Khan in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Friday (6 Oct).
She said she’d received an alert from the Illinois Victim Notification Service that he would be released the next day.
She also shared a macho mugshot of Yee obtained from the Illinois River Correctional Center in Canton, Illinois, where he’d been imprisoned.
The 24-year-old looked macho with his Vin Diesel-inspired shaved head.
Source: Wali Khan on X
Amos Yee released from prison, according to email
On Saturday (7 Oct), Ms Khan posted a screenshot of an email saying that Yee had been released from the Illinois Department of Corrections and was no longer in their custody.
Source: Wali Khan on X
He has been placed on parole or mandatory supervised release status.
Prisoners granted parole after a hearing are released from prison ahead of their scheduled release. Those on mandatory supervision must be under constant supervision of a parole officer.
If he commits any offence during this time or fails to check in with his parole officer, he may be rearrested and sent back to prison.
Ms Khan also received a text message saying that he was released on Saturday (7 Oct), though the email said it was the day before.
Source: Wali Khan on X
Amos Yee has served only half of his sentence
Whatever the actual date of Yee’s release, it’s way earlier than it could have been.
Those who followed his case would’ve known that he was sentenced to a total of six years’ jail for his offences.
As it was backdated to his arrest in October 2020, that meant he was supposed to be released only in October 2026.
Source: Illinois Department of Corrections
However, his projected parole date was 6 Oct 2023, and it seems he has indeed managed to be paroled three years early.
That means he has served only about half of his sentence.
He must go on Sex Offender Registry
Perhaps as a parting gift, the prison also updated Yee’s mugshots, which see him looking more like himself, i.e. with hair and a youthful appearance.
Source: Wali Khan on X
One thing hasn’t changed, though — his file still clearly says, “Sex Offender Registry Required”.
In the US, this is a national database for the public to be able to find the identity and location of registered sex offenders near them.
That means Yee must carry the mark of a sex offender always even after release, and will be easily identified by others as such.
He pleaded guilty to 2 sex offences
Both offences Yee pleaded guilty to were sex offences.
The 1st is child pornography – a class-one felony and second-most serious type of offence under Illinois criminal law. For that, he was given 5 years’ jail.
Source: Illinois Department of Corrections
For his 2nd offence of grooming – he used WhatsApp to get the victim, a 14-year-old girl from Texas, to pose for lewd photos – he got a 1-year prison term.
Now that’s he’s out, hopefully he will avoid trouble and turn over a new leaf so he can get his life back on track.
It’s uncertain, however, whether his asylum status in the US will still be in effect and if he will be deported to Singapore.
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