As he’s been through more court cases that most of us have in our lifetime, it’s easy to forget that Amos Yee is still only 23.
However, his current prison stint in the United States (US) seems to have taken a toll on his appearance – the formerly youthful Singaporean now looks at least a decade older.
That’s judging from the latest photos of him recorded by the prison he’s residing in.
Even if life’s not too good on the inside, he can still look forward to potential parole just next year, in 2023.
Yee is now imprisoned at the Illinois River Correctional Center in Canton, Illinois.
This is after he was sentenced to 6 years’ jail in Dec 2021.
His photos turned up quickly after a cursory search in the Illinois Department of Corrections database of people in custody.
As a reminder, this was what Yee looked like in Oct 2020 – less than 2 years ago – in a photo supplied by the Chicago police.
At that time, he’d just been arrested for exchanging lewd texts and photos with a 14-year-old girl from Texas.
Another photo was taken by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office at about the same time, as he was remanded there while awaiting his trials.
In these photos, he at least looks youthful, bright-skinned and healthy.
The latest photos, however, show a gaunt man with visible acne, dishevelled hair and an unkempt mustache and chin hair.
Worse still, he looks like he’s in his 30s or older, and is living life on the streets.
Besides the photos, the search turned up some other details, like his birthday (appropriately, on Halloween) and the fact that he hasn’t yet gotten any tattoos.
As for his sentence, besides his inmate number Y49010, it states that Yee’s name must go into the Sex Offender Registry.
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.
This is because both offences he was found guilty of 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.
For his 2nd offence of grooming – he used WhatsApp to get the victim to pose for lewd photos – he got a 1-year prison term.
Though he’s technically supposed to serve time till 2026, Yee may not have stay that long.
The small sliver of good news for him is that he may be eligible for parole as soon as 2023, according to his inmate details.
What that means is that a parole board may find that a certain prisoner is eligible for parole.
When that happens, he will appear in front of a parole hearing.
In the event he’s granted parole, he will be released from prison ahead of his scheduled release.
He may live as a free man in society, but 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.
Thus, if Yee behaves himself in jail, and is lucky enough to get parole, it’s projected to be in Jun 2023.
From his haggard countenance, it’s quite obvious that life in prison doesn’t suit Amos Yee.
Of course, he committed serious crimes, and deserves to be punished for them.
Nonetheless, as a fellow Singaporean, we hope he’ll spend his time in jail on self-reflection and becoming a better person.
He still has his whole life ahead of him – if he does turn over a new leaf, we hope he can get his life back on track after he’s released.
Have news you must share? Get in touch with us via email at news@mustsharenews.com.
Featured images adapted from Illinois Department of Corrections.
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