Latest news with #SexualOffencesAgainstChildrenAct2017
The Star
3 days ago
- The Star
Man denies molesting employer's daughter
MELAKA: A 50-year-old restaurant assistant has claimed trial to a charge of allegedly molesting his employer's six-year-old daughter. The accused entered the plea before Sessions Court judge Haderiah Siri yesterday. According to the charge, the father of five is accused of sexually abusing the girl. The offence was allegedly committed at the child's family home at about 11.25am on June 21. The charge was framed under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 which carries a prison term of up to 20 years and whipping, upon conviction. Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Mohd Azfar Mahmud offered bail at RM20,000 along with additional conditions that the accused must not disturb witnesses. The accused was also ordered to report to the nearest police station every month. The man, a divorcee who was unrepresented, appealed for a lower bail. He said that he worked as a restaurant assistant and has to support his five children and mother. The court set bail at RM9,000 with the additional conditions requested by the prosecution and fixed July 29 as the next mention date.
New Straits Times
4 days ago
- New Straits Times
Lorry driver charged with molesting stepdaughter during lockdown
MUAR: A lorry driver was charged in the Sessions Court here today with six counts of physical sexual abuse involving his 11-year-old stepdaughter, including incidents that allegedly occurred during the Enhanced Movement Control Order in 2021. The 38-year-old man, who has a child with the victim's mother, pleaded not guilty to all charges read before judge Sayani Mohd Nor. For the first five charges, the accused is alleged to have committed the offences at a house and in a car in Segamat between 7am and 11.30pm between June 28 and Aug 15, 2021. For the sixth charge, he allegedly committed a similar act in a car at 10pm on April 2 this year. The charges were framed under Sections 14(a) and 14(b) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, which carry up to 20 years in jail and whipping upon conviction. Deputy public prosecutor Diyana Najihah Muhamed Fauzi led the prosecution, while the accused was represented by counsel Swarnamugi Parry. The prosecution did not offer bail, citing safety concerns as the accused still lives with the victim. The court allowed the application and fixed Aug 28 for case mention and submission of documents.
The Star
4 days ago
- The Star
Indonesian gets 34 years' in jail, 14 strokes of rotan for sexually abusing brother's teen stepdaughter
KOTA KINABALU: An Indonesian labourer has been sentenced to 34 years' in jail by the Sandakan Sessions Court for molesting and sexually abusing his elder brother's teenage stepdaughter on Friday (July 25). The 25-year-old pleaded guilty before Sessions Court Judge Zaini Fisher @ Fisal, who also ordered him to be whipped 14 times for committing the offence between July 7 and 9 this year at an unnumbered house at an oil palm plantation quarters in Sandakan. Zaini also handed down an additional four months' jail on the accused for staying in the state without a valid document, and ordered him to be referred to the Immigration Department for deportation to his country of origin after serving the sentences. According to the facts of the case, the incident came to light on July 9 when the accused's brother noticed that his 14-year-old stepdaughter was experiencing unusually heavy bleeding. He also found her clothes in the bathroom stained with a significant amount of blood. When asked, the teenager said that she had been molested and raped by her uncle since July 7, which prompted the stepfather to take her to the Duchess of Kent Hospital for treatment before lodging a police report. The medical examiner found tear marks in her private parts, and no external body injuries. The accused was later arrested at the police station at Ulu Dusun, Jalan Labuk in Sandakan at about 12.30pm on July 11. He was charged under Section 14 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 for committing the crime, which carries a jail sentence of not more than 20 years, and liable to whipping. Zaini handed down eight years jail on him for the offence. The accused also admitted to raping his niece twice, the first at 11pm on July 8 and again at 3am on July 9 at the same unnumbered house. For the second and third offences, he was charged under Section 376 (1) of the Penal Code, which carries a jail sentence of up to 20 years plus whipping. The court handed down a sentence of 13 years jail and seven whippings for each charge. Deputy Public Prosecutor Muhammad Azizi Hamil conducted the prosecution, while the accused was unrepresented.
New Straits Times
4 days ago
- New Straits Times
Army sergeant held for allegedly molesting 5-year-old
ALOR GAJAH: A 32-year-old army sergeant has been remanded for five days for allegedly molesting a five-year-old girl in January. Magistrate Dr Teoh Shu Yee granted the remand order beginning today until July 29 to facilitate investigations under Section 14(a) of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017. According to a source, the alleged incident came to light when the child informed her mother on July 9. "The victim claimed that the molestation took place in their residential area one afternoon in January, while she was walking home from kindergarten. "The suspect, known to both the victim's parents, allegedly approached her and took her for a drive around the neighbourhood in his car," the source said. The victim also claimed that similar incidents had happened multiple times, during which the suspect would lure her with ice cream before committing the alleged acts. Police arrested the suspect yesterday evening.
Focus Malaysia
4 days ago
- Focus Malaysia
Digital paedophilia is still child abuse—even if the child is virtual
DIGITAL paedophilia refers to the sexual exploitation of children in virtual spaces, through tools like artificial intelligence, deepfakes, cartoons, and virtual reality. These images may be digitally generated, and the children portrayed may not even exist in real life. Yet, the intent is deeply exploitative, the gratification it feeds is criminal, and the harm it causes individually and socially is undeniable. While this form of abuse doesn't always involve contact with a child, it normalises the sexualisation of minors, perpetuates a dangerous fantasy, and fuels demand in underground networks. As a criminologist, I've seen how what initially began as 'just digital content' has the potential to desensitise consumers and eventually lead to real-world offending. It systematically erodes the legal, ethical, and societal safeguards established to protect the rights and dignity of children. This threat is amplified by the pervasive culture of online sharing. Many individuals, including parents, are drawn to posting their daily lives on social media, treating platforms like Facebook and TikTok as digital diaries. While these platforms foster connection and self-expression, they also expose users—particularly children—to serious risks. It is disturbingly easy to download images from Facebook and extract videos from TikTok, even without the content owner's knowledge or consent. Once uploaded, these digital footprints can be stolen, altered, and weaponised for exploitation. Digital paedophilia can take many forms, for instance AI-generated child sexual abuse material (CSAM) that mimics realistic children in sexual scenarios; deepfakes that superimpose children's faces—often taken from social media—onto adult bodies in explicit content; illustrated pornography (such as hentai or lolicon) that sexualises underage characters; and virtual reality simulations that allow users to act out child abuse fantasies in immersive settings. What makes this even more dangerous is that it's easy to access, easy to share, and hard to trace. The perpetrators hide behind screens, usernames, and encrypted platforms. And yet, the damage is far from virtual. Malaysia has made commendable strides with the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017, the Penal Code, and the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998—all of which provide mechanisms to combat traditional forms of child sexual abuse, including live-streamed exploitation. However, these laws still fall short when it comes to digital creations. Many of these materials are not technically illegal under current definitions of CSAM, because no real child was involved in their creation. But does that make them any less harmful? I would argue not. These depictions, no matter how 'virtual', are created with the intent of sexualising minors and should be recognised as forms of child sexual exploitation. Other countries have taken this step. The UK, Canada, and Australia have criminalised virtual child pornography, recognising that a legal definition limited only to real, identifiable victims is inadequate in the face of emerging technology. Therefore, Malaysia must consider doing the same. The harms of digital paedophilia are not hypothetical. Every day, images of real children—often taken innocently by their parents and shared online—are stolen, manipulated, and repurposed into sexual content. This is a profound violation of dignity, privacy, and safety. These children may never know what was done to their image, but the psychological and reputational damage can be lifelong. Unlike Denmark, which recognises an individual's legal right to their own image and personal likeness through robust copyright and data protection laws, Malaysia currently lacks explicit legal provisions that grant individuals—particularly children—ownership and control over the use of their personal images. This legal vacuum leaves Malaysian children especially vulnerable to digital exploitation, with limited recourse or protection under current frameworks. Moreover, digital abuse fuels cognitive distortions in those with paedophilic tendencies. Studies show that repeated exposure to virtual CSAM lowers inhibition, increases desensitisation, and can serve as a gateway to contact offences. As a society, we cannot afford to wait until a physical child is harmed to institute any action. The damage begins long before that. Therefore, an effective and urgent response is required. This includes amending existing laws to explicitly cover digitally created and AI-generated child sexual abuse material. We must criminalise intent and impact, not just physical involvement. Social media platforms, app developers, and AI companies must also be held accountable for detecting, reporting, and removing exploitative content—technological innovation must not come at the expense of child safety. Digital literacy should no longer be seen as optional. Parents, children, and educators must be equipped with the knowledge to understand the risks of oversharing online and how personal images can be misused. Every policy, investigation, and reform effort must place the child at the centre—not merely as a legal category, but as a human being deserving of dignity, protection, and justice. Digital paedophilia sits at the intersection of technological progress and moral regression. As artificial intelligence and virtual reality continue to advance, so too does the capacity to simulate harm, commodify children, and conceal abuse behind layers of code. But just because the abuse is virtual does not mean it is any less real. The law must evolve to meet this challenge because every child, whether real or digitally represented, deserves to be safe from sexual exploitation. ‒ July 24, 2025 Dr Haezreena Begum Abdul Hamid is a Criminologist and Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, University of Malaya. The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia. Main image: Unsplash/jin Woo Lee
