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SINGAPORE: Singaporean Amos Yee is in the custody of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after he was released on parole from prison less than a week ago.<\/p>\n
Yee, 27, is currently held at Dodge Detention Facility in Juneau, Wisconsin, according to checks on the ICE detainee database on Monday (Nov 24).<\/p>\n
On Nov 20, Yee was released on parole from Danville Correctional Center, Illinois, where he had been serving time for possession of child pornography and grooming a child.<\/p>\n
According to ICE, people are detained to “secure their presence for immigration proceedings or removal” from the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They may also be taken into custody if ICE determines they are a “public safety or flight risk” during the custody determination process.<\/p>\n
CNA has contacted US ICE for more information, including whether Yee would be deported to Singapore.<\/p>\n
Yee was granted asylum by the US in 2017 despite opposition from the Department of Homeland Security. Before that, he had been jailed twice in Singapore for wounding religious feelings.<\/p>\n
In October 2020, he was arrested by US marshals in Chicago for possession of child pornography and grooming a 14-year-old girl.<\/p>\n
A US court heard that Yee had befriended the victim in February 2019. They began an \u201conline courtship\u201d, during which he repeatedly asked for her naked photos.<\/p>\n
On occasions, he asked her to engage in role play and \u201csexual fantasies\u201d, said the prosecution. This was despite the victim telling him that she was 14 years old.<\/p>\n
Yee used WhatsApp to \u201cseduce, solicit and lure\u201d the victim and distributed photographs of her online. This went on until July 2019, the court heard.<\/p>\n
Yee pleaded guilty to the charges in December 2021 and he was sentenced to six years’ jail, with the prison term backdated to his arrest date.<\/p>\n
He was granted parole in October 2023, but was taken back into custody about a month later for violating parole conditions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n