Yandere Dev Admits To "Inappropriate" Conversations With A Minor

Alex Mahan (AKA Yandere Dev) has responded to allegations of inappropriate behaviour with a fan. In a 15-minute YouTube video, Mahan denies the claim that he intentionally groomed the fan, but admits to engaging in "inappropriate" conversations of a sexual nature with her when he knew she was 16 years old.

This statement comes after text and audio messages between Mahan and the 16-year-old fan were made public in September. Mahan apologises for the contents of these messages, but argues that he didn't intend to abuse or start a romantic or sexual relationship with the minor.

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"Last year an extremely serious allegation was made about me that I would like to address," says Mahan, opening the video. "The accusation is that I attempted to groom an underage fan of my game. I will take accountability and admit that I did discuss inappropriate topics with the fan. However, the accusation that I deliberately attempted to groom this fan is false."

Mahan then continues to give his side of the story from beginning to end, admitting that the fan immediately told him that she was 16. Despite Mahan being 35 years old, he says he had no issue with her age, arguing that he had friends "in their 20s and 30s" when he was a minor. He goes on to say that their initial conversations were "normal", but that the fan had an "adult sense of humour."

He then claims that, at some point, the fan reached out to a YouTuber, intending to eventually expose their conversations. Their text and audio chats were then recorded, but Mahan argues that the YouTuber was "coaching" the fan in how to speak with him, trying to "manipulate" him into saying "things that would make [him] look bad".

He maintains that despite the contents of these conversations being sexual, he did not groom the fan. "I did not attempt to establish a romantic or sexual relationship with the girl," says Mahan. "But after having my behaviour explained to me as commonly associated with romance, I can understand how it was interpreted that way."

Furthermore, Mahan says he should have blocked the fan when the conversation first turned sexual, but didn't because he had "deteriorated mentally." He suggests this was due to the now ten years he has spent making Yandere Simulator, "neglecting" other aspects of his life.

In the description, he links to a statement that is reportedly from the 16-year-old fan in question. If the account does belong to this fan, then she also says she was "coached" into getting more material, comparing it to an "FBI sting operation". She speaks out against the YouTuber who shared their conversations in the first place, saying this was against her wishes as she had changed her mind on making the material public.

Yandere Simulator started development in 2014. Due to these recent allegations, several figures attached to the game have left the project, including the voice actor for the player character.

However, there have been claims that Mahan himself coached the fan on how to respond. Leaked messages from September appeared to show Mahan trying to get the fan to pull the initial video, instructing her on how to speak with content creators who wanted to reveal the recordings.

Mahan does respond to this in his video, only admitting to "offer[ing] feedback" on the fan's most recent statement. He does, however, make some apologies towards the end of his statement

"I allowed myself to deteriorate into a person who was making horrible decisions on a regular basis that not only harmed me but also the people around me," says Mahan. "I am sorry for having stupid, inappropriate conversations I never should have had. I'm sorry for neglecting myself until I created problems for everyone around me."

He concludes by saying that he will now return to work on Yandere Simulator while admitting this will be with reduced staff as many have now distanced themselves from the project in light of this controversy.

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