The man behind one of YouTube’s top tween girl channels is accused of molesting a minor — and girls who appeared in his videos say he has a pattern of creepy behavior, according to a report published Monday.
Ian Rylett, the 55-year-old owner of the channel “SevenAwesomeKids,” allegedly demanded that a young girl undress against her will during a video shoot in a Florida hotel room in August, according to an arrest report obtained by BuzzFeed News.
The girl, who is under 16, claims Rylett touched her chest and fondled her, eventually attempting to remove her underwear by force, according to the arrest report.
The report says Rylett threatened her if she didn’t comply. At one point, he also allegedly demanded that she “practice wrapping her breasts down to make them appear smaller for the video shoot.”
Rylett, who is from the UK, was charged with lewd and lascivious molestation and pleaded not guilty last month.
Though YouTube learned about the arrest in mid-August, Rylett’s channels remain up, with the last video being published a month ago.
Established in 2008, the SevenAwesomeKids brand boasts 17 million subscribers over seven channels, including SevenPerfectAngels, SevenFabulousTeens and SevenTwinklingTweens.
The latest channel — SevenSuperGirls — has roughly 9 million subscribers and features daily videos from more than 20 young girls, ranging in age from 8 to 18 years old. Rylett pays them a monthly salary to appear in the videos, which he directs.
YouTube profits from ads sold against the videos but told BuzzFeed they demonetized SevenAwesomeKids shortly after Rylett’s arrest.
Some performers who appeared in videos on the channels said they were never abused by Rylett — but that he made them uncomfortable and often pressured them to appear younger.
“On trips we used to joke about him being creepy, but we never thought he’d act on it,” one girl told the website.
In 2017, comedian Daniel Tosh suggested on his Comedy Central show “Tosh.O” that the channel was being viewed by creeps and child molesters.
“Then some of us started to get the feeling we were being groomed for some darker audience,” a former SevenAwesomeKids performer said. “Things that didn’t feel weird at the time — like the themes, the leotards, and the camera angles — started to feel strange. I started to get that feeling especially when you think that some of these girls are 9 years old.”
The girls said YouTube didn’t offer them any resources.
“In all my years filming for the channels, there was never any conversation with YouTube. There was no kid rep support that I know of and no number to call to report things to,” one former performer said. “We were on our own.”
The streaming giant said it works “closely with leading child safety organizations and others in our industry to protect young people.”
“When we’re made aware of serious allegations of this nature we take action, which may include suspending monetization, or, upon conclusion of an investigation, terminating the channel,” YouTube said.
