Amos Yee is back: Here’s what you might have forgotten about the convicted sex offender
Child sex offender Amos Yee has returned to Singapore after being deported from the United States, where he had fled in 2016 and was granted asylum in March 2017.
Yee was released from prison last November after being paroled while serving a six-year sentence for child pornography and sexual grooming offences. He was subsequently placed in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The 27-year-old was arrested upon his return to Singapore on March 20 and charged for violating the Enlistment Act, which requires all male Singaporeans and permanent residents to serve national service.
Yee had failed to report for his pre-enlistment medical screening and remained overseas without a valid exit permit after leaving Singapore in 2016.
On March 26, he was released from Changi Prison after his mother posted bail of $10,000.
Here are four things you may have forgotten about the controversial figure.
1. Won film festival, starred in Jack Neo’s movie
Yee first made a name for himself when he won The New Paper’s inaugural FiRST Film Fest (FFF) in 2011. The then-13-year-old wrote, shot, and acted in all four roles in his three-minute short film, beating 159 entries to win Best Actor and Best Short Film.
His performance caught the eye of local director and FFF judge Jack Neo, who offered him an internship and a minor role in the 2012 film We Not Naughty, where Yee played the lead’s younger brother.
After a police report was lodged against Yee in 2015 for posting a video celebrating the death of founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, Neo distanced himself from him.
“He is not my actor,” the director told The Straits Times.
Referring to a 2012 video in which Yee was criticised for remarks about Chinese New Year, Mr Neo said he no longer kept in contact with him. “It’s unbelievable that he has not learned from the past and has not changed.”
2. Renounced Catholicism as a teenager
Yee was raised Catholic by his parents, Alphonsus Yee and Mary Toh. During his time as a student at Zhonghua Secondary School, he served as an altar boy at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Upper Thomson for two years.
Mr Anthony Lawrence, who was responsible for the altar servers ministry at that time, said Yee was consistent in serving the 7am morning mass but often used vulgar language.
“Whenever we scolded him, he just smiled, so much so that we wondered if he was taking us seriously. And then, he stopped coming,” he told ST in 2015.
Yee later told police he began questioning his fatih in 2013, when he was 14. By mid-2013, he had renounced Catholicism.
He later qualified for Nanyang Junior College but chose to drop out.
3. Falsely accused bailor of molesting him
In March 2015, Yee, then 16, was charged with attacking Christianity, transmitting an obscene image and posting a video containing offensive remarks about Lee Kuan Yew. His $20,000 police bail was converted to court bail after the teenager defied bail conditions by asking for donations to fund legal fees on Facebook and his blog.
After his parents declined to post bail, family and youth counsellor Vincent Law stepped forward to do so in April that year.
“It seems that the charge said that he made disparaging remarks against Christianity. I’m a Christian and I’m stepping up to say that I’m not offended,” Mr Law said, expressing his wish that Yee would receive counselling from him.
A month later, Yee falsely accused Mr Law of molesting him in a public post and called for the media to gather at Pasir Panjang MRT station. He would “reveal that little tidbit of information on how (his) ex-bailor, Vincent Law, molested (him)”, he said.
A few hours later, he admitted the allegation was untrue and said it had been a ruse to trick the media. “Vincent Law didn’t really molest me, haha,” he wrote.
Mr Law demanded an “unreserved apology” from Yee, adding “it is not me who Amos hurt with his allegation, but it is my whole family who was deeply hurt”.
Yee initially said on Facebook that he was “extremely remorseful for the turmoil” that he had caused, but reversed his stance a day later, writing: “I should issue a sincere apology to Vincent Law? Hahahahaha.”
He went on to make further allegations against Mr Law and claimed the counsellor had threatened to withdraw as his bailor if he did not agree to regular meetings.
4. Wrote letter titled ‘You shouldn’t let me back into Singapore’
Whilst in ICE custody, Yee allegedly penned a blog post in February 2026 titled “You shouldn’t let me back into Singapore”, urging the Singapore government not to facilitate his return.
In the letter addressed to Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, he claimed that he would not comply with national service obligations. “You think I’m just going to quietly accept my punishment and agree to serve in the military? Hah! I’m going to continue to swerve the military,” he said.
He also said he could topple “Singapore 60 years dictatorship [sic]” if he “really put [his] mind to it”.
Yee then mentioned the legal battles that have plagued him since he was a teenager: “I know you regretted arresting me 10 years ago.”
He went on to describe the legal proceedings as “imprisoning a 16-year-old who just expressed his political opinions”.
What’s next for Amos Yee?
As part of his bail conditions, Yee is not allowed to:
- Publish materials, disclose information or make public comments on his ongoing case
- Commit any offence while on bail
- Interfere with witnesses or obstruct the course of justice
He also had to surrender his travel documents.
Yee faces three charges, with a pre-trial conference scheduled for April 23. If convicted, he may be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to three years, or both.
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