The conversation in question went down in 2017, and the ban was four years ago, but the story gained traction again this week ... when a former Twitch employee finally revealed the alleged reason Disrespect, who at one point was one of the most popular streamers on the platform, was booted.

"He got banned because he got caught sexting a minor in the then existing Twitch whispers product," the employee claimed. "He was trying to meet up with her at TwitchCon. The powers that could be read in plain text. Case closed, gang."

Fast forward to Tuesday morning -- DD released a lengthy statement on X addressing the scandal ... saying he previously wasn't allowed to speak on the matter, but that changed once the allegations were made public.

"Were there twitch whisper messages with an individual minor back in 2017? The answer is yes," Disrespect said. "Were there real intentions behind these messages, the answer is absolutely not."

"These were casual, mutual conversations that sometimes leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate, but nothing more. Nothing illegal happened, no pictures were shared, no crimes were committed, I never even met the individual."

Despite making it clear he didn't cross any legal red lines, the streamer did admit his wrongdoing.

"I should have never entertained these conversations to begin with," he added. "That's on me. That's on me as an adult, a husband and a father. It should have never happened. I get it. I’m not perfect and I'll f***ing own my s***. This was stupid."

While the gamer has been getting destroyed online following the allegations -- he's also fighting to defend his character.

"Now, with all this said, don't get it f***ing mistaken, I've seen all the remarks and labels being throw around so loosely," Disrespect said.

"I'm no f***ing predator or pedophile. Are you kidding me? Anyone that truely (sic) knows me f***ing knows where I stand on those things with those types of people. F*** that. That's a different level of disgust that I f***ing hate even hearing about.  Don't be labeling me as the worst of the worst with your exaggerations. Get the f*** outta here with that s***."

Disrespect ended his message apologizing to any supporters who now view him differently ... but says he's not the same guy he was in 2017. He also vowed not to go into hiding over the development.

"Finally, if you're uncomfortable with this entire statement and think I'm a piece of s***, that's fine. But I'm not f***ing going anywhere," he said. "I'm not the same guy that made this mistake all those years ago. I'm taking an extended vacation with my family as mentioned on stream and I'm coming back with a heavy weight off my shoulders."