I have no clue who this guy is, so I am pretty unbiased I think, and I am speaking on the situation as is at this very moment. This might backfire, should it come to light that he did worse things, but:
He's a fucking idiot. He should have known better than to sext with a girl under 18. He has responsibility in this, and if this thing goes to court, then that is his fault. But he isn't the only to blame. Please stop pretending a 17 year old girl doesn't have responsibility either. Or if you do, then at least give the same courtesy to a guy that was an idiot teenager himself.
I dunno how much a 19 year old with 0/little sexual and life experience could groom a girl, but I mean I have seen stranger things. But from what I saw, it looked more like inept flirting and not really knowing how to handle feelings. Also just being a really dumb fucking hormonal teenager.
I also really, really wished people would quit pretending that famous people automatically have power over someone. Justin Bieber is pretty damn famous, right? Couldn't give less of a fuck about him. But if, for example, Shakira asked me to take a stroll in her lady garden, I might be very inclined to do so. Reason being, I really like her music, obviously.
A power imbalance occurs when someone has authority over the other person. In a setting where there are consequences if the person without power ends that relationship, or ending is just not possible. For instance in a school setting, the family, or at the workplace A teacher flirting you up, and you being afraid to say no because of your grades, that's a power imbalance (amongst other things). The slimey Hollywood producer offering you a seat on the casting couch when you are starting out and need the money, that's a power imbalance. But a 17 year old being the fan of a 19 year old on YouTube? What power does he have over her?
Any power he has is because of his status that is given to him by the person that admires him. It's that very person's wish to be desirable to the person they admire. Fuck is he gonna do? If he lost interest, nothing would change. If contact was lost there would be no consequences to the admirer. Except the admirer wanted to keep being in contact with them because of their admiration. They wanted that attention. They enjoyed it. Guess in the end they didn't get what they wanted.
Do people not realize that when you are young you do dumb shit? Hormones, unfinished brains, so many things to learn still. In high school and college some guys bend backwards to impress girls they like, and the 7/10 will put out quicker when the prom king shows interest in her. Just to maybe in the end realize they were used to be an emotional tampon or a cumdump. These experiences used to be called mistakes, used to be a lesson learned. Guess there's no need to learn, if you pretend you don't have agency and are free of responsibility.
107 hours in that game doesn't mean much to me either, because even if it was sexual to him, I doubt he can nut that many times to the same damn text bubbles or whatever that game offers. That'd be how many orgasms to the same exact non physical stimulus? Quite doubtful. Then again I am on Kiwifarms, I should know very well how autistic some people can be, even when it comes to diddling their privates.
Again, if more comes out, and it's worse than it seems, then fuck me. But I am so annoyed by this sensationalist garbage, the victim mentality, the pitchforks...