KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 — Unsupervised access to the internet does not only make children victims of sexual crimes, but it may turn them into underaged sexual predators, The Star reported today.

In an interview with the daily, Bukit Aman’s Sexual, Women and Child Investigation Division’s (D11) principal assistant director Assistant Commissioner of Police Siti Kamsiah Hassan said that there were 912 sexual crime cases reported last year involving underaged suspects – 601 rape cases, outrage of modesty (17), unnatural sex (18), sexual harassment (23) and three for distribution or possession of obscene materials.

"We also recorded 215 physical sexual assault on children cases, nine non-physical sexual assault as well as five grooming cases involving underaged suspects,” she said and added that 20 suspects below the age of 18 were involved in attempts to use a child for child sexual abuse material.

"It can happen even with new acquaintances and feelings of love do not even need to be present in such situations,” she was quoted as saying.

According to The Star, reported cases in 2023 showed a reduction from 2022 which had 1,006 cases, but the numbers were still higher compared to 2021 with 731 cases.

Siti Kamsiah also said that these incidents also occur in children under the age of 10, and that the only way to resolve it is to investigate the root cause of the incident as children under 10 years of age cannot be charged in court.

"If the sexual behaviour of a child goes unreported and the family does not take initial steps to identify the cause and remedy it, it is feared that the child would consider this behaviour to be normal within society,” she was quoted as saying.

She added that an investigation would allow early intervention and rehabilitation of the child by the relevant agencies and families involved.

Among the 1,006 underaged sexual crimes reported in 2022, 779 involved rape, physical sexual assault (190), outraging modesty (21), sexual harassment (eight) and distribution or possession of obscene materials (five) and three were involved in attempting to produce and make, exchange, sell, access and use a child for child sexual abuse material.

In 2021, the police recorded 731 sexual crimes involving suspects below the age of 18 which included 552 rape cases, physical sexual assault (154), attempting to use a child for child sexual abuse material (six), outraging modesty (five), sexual harassment (eight) and two cases each for distribution or possession of obscene materials, non-physical sexual assault and grooming, Siti Kamsiah told The Star.

"It is feared that crimes involving victims and perpetrators among children occur especially involving those under the age of 10 who are considered as persons who can bear no criminal responsibility under the law.

"We fear that the crimes committed by these perpetrators go unreported and are resolved at the level of the affected families only,” she was quoted as saying.