Do you know what a “polocle” is?
Well, you couldn’t possibly know, because it’s a made-up word; it’s a portmanteau of the words “Polymath” and “Oracle”.
“Polymath” means a person whose knowledge spans a wide variety of subjects, and “Oracle”, meaning a giver of truth.
Why am I telling you all this? To give you an insight into the strange creature that is Amos Yee. Yes, Yee made up that word and calls himself that.
As many of us know, Yee was a Singaporean blogger who shot to fame after he made a video criticizing the late Lee Kuan Yew after he died. He was subsequently arrested on multiple charges and was sentenced to jail, though he only ended up serving 53 days in remand.
He went to the US sometime after that where he was granted asylum. His story should have ended there, but he was indicted in the US on child pornography charges instead.
He denied the charges, but it doesn’t look good for the 22-year-old.
Amos Yee Now Prosecuted by a Special Prosecutor for 18 Charges
Yee is now being prosecuted by a special prosecutor in the US for 18 charges, including grooming, indecently soliciting a child, and possession of child pornography.
Yee, who has been on remand in the US for about a year, appeared via Zoom before a Chicago court this morning (21 Oct).
Yee’s public defender (a lawyer for people who cannot afford a private lawyer to defend them) said she’s negotiating a resolution for Yee’s case with a special prosecutor.
A “special prosecutor” isn’t someone who’s just really good at prosecuting, of course. A special prosecutor is a prosecutor who is independent of an office that would normally exercise jurisdiction in a criminal investigation. This is to avoid potential conflicts of interest.
Yee is expected to make another court appearance next month. He pleaded not guilty to all charges related to his arrest last year.
What Happened
Yee was charged with child pornography and grooming after he allegedly exchanged nude photos and “thousands” of messages with a 14-year-old girl while living in Chicago.
Not only did he send her nude photos, he asked for nude photos of the girl, and got them.
And Yee couldn’t claim to have been unaware of her age, as she repeatedly brought it up during the conversation.
Eventually, their relationship soured and the girl reached out to a group “interested in exposing pedophiles.”
Yee’s defence was that he was just an ‘internet troll’, doing controversial things for controversy’s sake.
Right…
Yee hasn’t been on his best behaviour in court either, as his lawyer literally told him once to “keep your mouth shut” because Yee tried to defend himself in court in a hearing last year.
Yee fled to the US in 2016 when Trump was the President-Elect. He was detained immediately and was granted asylum in the US on 24 March 2017, but was only released from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Chicago on 26 September 2017.
If found guilty of his charges, Yee could lose his asylum status and be deported back to Singapore.
I’m sure the country will welcome him with open arms.
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Featured Image: Cook County Sheriff’s Office