Amos Yee says ex-bailor molested him, then admits it was all a lie to trick the media

Mr Law, a family and youth counsellor, has called the allegation "false". -- PHOTO: THE NEW PAPER FILE
Mr Law, a family and youth counsellor, has called the allegation "false". -- PHOTO: THE NEW PAPER FILE
Amos Yee leaving the State Courts on May 12, 2015. The teenage blogger has alleged that he had been molested by his former bailor Vincent Law. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

SINGAPORE - Barely a day after he was convicted and released on bail, teenage blogger Amos Yee alleged that he had been molested by Mr Vincent Law, a family and youth counsellor who had stepped forward to bail him out.

Then a few hours later, after Mr Law told several media outlets that the allegation was "false", Yee posted again on Facebook to announce that it was all a lie. "Vincent Law didn't really molest me, haha," he wrote. "Though he is immensely creepy. I'll save the specific details for another time."

The 16-year-old admitted that the entire post was "a troll" to trick the media. "I manipulated the press to indulge in the thoroughly exhausting experience of waiting in Pasir Panjang fruitlessly for several hours, which they did with their 'diligence'. They are all quite obscure and hard places to reach in Singapore aren't they?" he wrote just before 9.45pm.

At 2.40pm on Wednesday, Yee had made a lengthy post on Facebook inviting the media to "catch" him as he exited Pasir Panjang MRT station at around 3 or 4pm.

The 16-year-old wrote that if they did, he would "clear the air" and "reveal that little tidbit of information on how (his) ex-bailor, Vincent Law, molested (him)".

When contacted, Mr Law told the Straits Times: "I deny this very serious and false allegation that he has made. I have no idea why he would say that."

Yee's lawyer Alfred Dodwell said that the post took him by surprise.

"He's never communicated this to me or my team."

He said he had not spoken with the teenager since they parted ways on Tuesday, when Yee was found guilty of uploading an obscene image and making remarks intending to hurt the feelings of Christians, after a two-day trial last week.

Yee has since taken down the offending YouTube video and post that got him convicted from his blog.

The blogger was charged in court on March 31, four days after uploading the video criticising the late Mr Lee. A day after he put up the video, he uploaded an image illustrating two people having sex, on which he superimposed the faces of Mr Lee and former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

Yee will be sentenced on June 2, pending the outcome of a probation report.

On Tuesday, the court reduced the bail sum to $10,000, with no conditions attached. The previous bail amount was $30,000 and as part of his bail terms, Yee was not allowed to post anything online.

oliviaho@sph.com.sg

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