Child Sexual Abuse in Malaysia > The laws and the punishment for CSAM

 

What are child sexual abuse materials and 

how Malaysia's laws punish CSAM crimes?

Ida Lim

8 August 2024·3-min read

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 8 — A 31-year-old unemployed man was today charged with allegedly kidnapping six-year-old Johor girl Albertine Leo Jia Hui, and also other crimes such as allegedly possessing and collecting "child sexual abuse materials" (CSAM) in the form of over 5,000 images and videos.

But what is CSAM? What are the punishments awaiting those who own CSAM? How can Malaysians keep their children safe?

1. CSAM: The new name for "child porn" in Malaysia's laws

In July 2023, the Malaysian government replaced the term "child pornography" with the new term "child sexual abuse materials" (CSAM) in the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 (SOAC).

This is because children can never consent to sexual acts.

Under the 2017 law's Section 4, the definition of CSAM includes visual, audio, written representations of a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct; or realistic or graphic images of a child or a person appearing to be a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

2. CSAM offences: Punishable by up to 30 years' jail in Malaysia

The 2017 law's Section 5 to 10 lists down the punishments for six main different offences related to CSAM, ranging from a maximum five-year jail term (for accessing or possessing CSAM) to the most severe punishment of maximum 30 years' jail (for making CSAM).

3. What are the other sexual crimes against children in Malaysia?

Under the same 2017 law, there are also three offences relating to child grooming:

• Section 11 (sexually communicating with a child; maximum three-year jail term);

• Section 12 (child grooming; maximum five-year jail term and whipping);

• Section 13 (meeting following child grooming; maximum 10-year jail term and whipping).

The same 2017 law also has four other sexual crimes against children:

• Section 14 (physical sexual assault on a child, maximum 20-year jail term and whipping);

• Section 15 (non-physical sexual assault on a child - including making a child exhibit parts of their body; punishable by maximum 10-year jail term or maximum RM20,000 fine or both);

• Section 15A (sexual performance by a child - such as livestreaming or social media postings; maximum 20-year jail term and maximum RM50,000 fine);

• Section 15B (sexual extortion of a child - such as threatening to share video or photograph of a child's body or private parts; maximum 10-year jail term).
  I would like to see this section increased in sentencing. Sexual extortion, or, sextortion, is rapidly growing, there are even call centers devoted to this heinous crime. In Canada and the USA, children have committed suicide because of sextortion.

4. How can Malaysians keep their children safe online?

In a January report by Malay Mail, Bukit Aman’s Sexual, Women and Child Investigation Division’s (D11) principal assistant director Assistant Commissioner of Police Siti Kamsiah Hassan said child sexual offenders would use a fake identity online to target and befriend children on social media apps, dating apps and on online games, before grooming them online for sexual activities or to carry out other sexual crimes against them.

5. What to do if a child has experienced harm from sexual crimes?

According to non-governmental organisation Women's Centre for Change (WCC) Penang's online resources, a child who has been sexually abused should be given immediate medical attention at government hospitals and the case should be reported to the Social Welfare Department or to the police.

WCC Penang also recommends that the child should be protected from further abuse, and continue their daily routine and be given support and reassurance.

Recommended reading:

Make no mistake, downloading and viewing ‘child porn’ is a crime in Malaysia - here's what the numbers tell us

Protecting children in Malaysia: How they might fall prey to sexual crimes online (Part I)

Parents in Malaysia, do you see these red flags? How to protect your children from online sexual abuse (Part II)

Why it’s not just ‘beware the stranger’ for kids anymore, and how Malaysia’s add-on jail time can deter sexual offenders

Mapping Malaysia’s child sexual abuse cases: Why lower numbers doesn’t always mean better

The Perverted Lives of the Rich and Famous > French TV top anchor facing 5 rape accusations; BBC's Top News Anchor pleads guilty to child sex abuse images

 

Rough day to be a top news anchor in Europe. Can we assume they are both godless people?

Disgraced French former TV anchor

faces five new rape probes

Patrick Poivre d'Arvor, one of France's top TV presenters for more than two decades, faces five new probes into rape allegations by his former colleagues, French investigators revealed Wednesday. "PPDA", as he's commonly known in France, was fired from TV channel TF1 in 2008 and has faced several sexual assault investigations over the past few years. 

Issued on: 31/07/2024 - 14:19, Modified: 31/07/2024 - 14:17

2 min

By:NEWS WIRES

French investigators have opened five new probes into rape allegations against former prime-time news presenter Patrick Poivre d'Arvor, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

The 76-year-old has denied repeated accusations of rape or sexual assault. In December he was charged with the rape of writer Florence Porcel in 2009.

That probe was widened in February to look into claims of the rape of two more women and a sexual assault of another committed between 2007 and 2018, which could lead to fresh charges.

The new investigations are into accusations of rape during an earlier period, the prosecutor's office in the Paris suburb of Nanterre and a lawyer told AFP.

The five accusers had filed previous complaints that were rejected for being past the statute of limitations, a source at the prosecutor's office said.

Poivre d'Arvor's lawyer was not immediately available for comment.

Amongst the five accusers, journalist Helene Devynck has alleged the television presenter raped her when she was his assistant in 1993. Another journalist, Stephanie Khayat, has accused him of two rapes in 1994 and 1997.

Marie-Laure Eude-Delattre claims Poivre d'Arvor raped her as a 23-year-old intern at the Cannes Film Festival in 1985. Margot Cauquil-Gleizes, now a teacher, said he raped her the same year when she was 17.

They were identified by their lawyer Corinne Herrmann. It was not immediately clear who the fifth person was.

After a preliminary inquiry opened in 2021, prosecutors dropped 19 out of 22 testimonies or legal complaints accusing the veteran presenter of rape, sexual assault or sexual harassment for being past the statute of limitations.

But the five plaintiffs have used another legal channel to obtain investigations.

Herrmann said "these cases are not past the statute of limitations because there are several of them. When you have a cascade of cases, the latest annuls the statute of limitations for the one before it.

"France is reeling from a series of accusations of abuse in the arts and journalism.

Screen icon Gerard Depardieu, 75, is to stand trial in October over accusations of sexually assaulting two women. He was also charged in 2020 with rape two years earlier. He denies all charges.

(AFP)

===================================================================================

Former BBC lead presenter pleads guilty

in indecent child images case

By Pan Pylas  The Associated Press

Posted July 31, 2024 5:30 am

 2 min read

View image in full screen

Former BBC broadcaster Huw Edwards arrives at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London, Wednesday July 31, 2024 where he is charged with three counts of making indecent images of children following a Metropolitan Police investigation. Jonathan Brady/PA via AP

Huw Edwards, the BBC’s former top news presenter, pleaded guilty Wednesday to three counts of making indecent images of children.

The offenses he pleaded guilty to at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London during a 26-minute hearing involved images shared on WhatsApp between December 2020 and August 2021 by a man who had initially contacted Edwards via social media.

Edwards, who was the lead anchor on the BBC’s nighttime news for two decades and led the public broadcaster’s coverage of the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, has been remanded on bail until a pre-sentencing hearing on Sept. 16. He could face up to 10 years in prison, though the prosecution conceded that a suspended sentence may be appropriate.

The court heard that Edwards, 62, was involved in an online chat with an adult man on the messaging service who sent him 377 sexual images, of which 41 were indecent images of children.

The images that were sent included seven of what are known as “category A,” which are the most indecent. Of those, the estimated age of most of the children was between 13 and 15, but one was aged between 7 and 9.

The court also heard that the unnamed male asked Edwards on Feb. 2, 2021 whether what he was sending was too young. Edwards told him not to send any underage images. Five more, though, were sent, and the exchange of pornographic images continued until April 2022.

“Accessing indecent images of underage people perpetuates the sexual exploitation of children, which has deep, long-lasting trauma on these victims,” said Claire Brinton of the Crown Prosecution Service.

Speaking in Edwards’ defense, his lawyer Philip Evans said there is “no suggestion” that his client had “in the traditional sense of the word, created any image of any sort.”

Edwards, he added, “did not keep any images, did not send any to anyone else and did not and has not sought similar images from anywhere else.” He added that Edwards had “both mental and physical” health issues and that he is “not just of good character, but of exceptional character.”

God help us when child porn users are exceptionally good characters.

Prosecutor Ian Hope told the court that Edwards’ “genuine remorse” was one reason why a suspended sentence might be considered. Setting out the potential penalties under the law, he said that where there is the prospect of rehabilitation, a community order and sexual offender treatment program could be considered as alternatives to prison.

A spokesperson for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children said there should be “no doubt” about the seriousness of Edwards’ crimes.

“It can be extremely traumatic for young people to know sexual images of themselves have been shared online,” the spokesperson said. “We also need to see online platforms do much more to identify and disrupt child abuse in private messaging services in order to safeguard young people.”

Edwards, who was one of the BBC’s top earners, was suspended in July 2023 for separate claims made last year. He later resigned for health reasons.

===================================================================================

Child Sex Abuse > Wolverhampton pervert had 50,000 pornographic images of children as young as 6 months old

 

Sex offender jailed for making child abuse videos

8 hours ago

By Caroline Gall, BBC News, West Midlands

A sex offender found in possession of 50,000 indecent images of children and who orchestrated the sexual abuse of children for custom videos has been jailed.

Richard Haswell, from Wolverhampton, was communicating with another sex offender in the Philippines and directed the abuse that should be carried out for the videos.

He claimed he was being pestered to send money to the abuser, West Midlands Police said.

The 62-year-old admitted several charges at Wolverhampton Crown Court where he was jailed for six years on Monday.

When officers arrived at Haswell's house in Cornwall Road in July last year, he 

admitted having devices with indecent images on.

The images included children as young as six months old - as well as extreme pornography.

He told officers during an interview that he was being pestered into sending money

to the abuser in the Philippines, but could not explain why he did not block them, 

the force said.

Haswell pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images, possessing extreme 

pornography, six counts of making indecent images and two counts of arranging or 

facilitating a child sex offence.

He will serve three years on licence after his release and was also given an indefinite 

sexual harm prevention order.

Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on Facebook, X and Instagram. 

Send your story ideas to: newsonline.westmidlands

Pornhub sued by woman who's child rape video was approved for publication - This astonishingly evil company needs to be dealt with

Pornhub has no issue posting videos of child sexual abuse

Conversation

Laila Mickelwait

@LailaMickelwait

In June “Ariana” sued P*rnhub and its owners/executives by name. At age 16 she was coerced by two males who both sexually abused her while the other watched. 9 months later she found out they had secretly recorded the coerced sex acts without her knowledge or consent and had uploaded two of the videos to P*rnhub. P*rnhub personnel reviewed and approved the child sexual abuse material prior to upload, as they repeatedly have claimed do for every video uploaded. They then heavily monetized the criminal content. After Ariana learned about the illegal videos, in a panic she reached out to the principal of her high school for help. The principal contacted the sheriff’s office who began an investigation, including interviews of both abusers. During the interviews, both admitted that they knew she was underage and said they attempted to have the videos removed from P*rnhub five months earlier after reading news stories about a prosecution arising from similar criminal actions. But the videos had already been further downloaded. In an effort to avoid liability, Ariana’s abusers reached out to P*rnhub to have the videos taken down. Pornhub ignored them and continued to commercialize and monetize the illegal child sexual abuse videos. It was only after the sheriff’s office issued a subpoena that the videos were finally disabled. But the harm was already done. The videos were already widely viewed and disseminated by tens of thousands of PH users and uploaded to multiple other MindGeek and non-MindGeek owned tube sites. The widespread and illegal dissemination of the videos throughout the world and her community, caused Ariana severe anxiety and emotional distress. She continues to be treated by a mental health professional to this date. We know now that PH’s owners and executives intentionally did not verify the age or consent of the individuals in the millions of homemade sex videos that they monetized for profit on the site. They knew their vast library was infested with child abuse, rape and trafficking, yet chose to monetize and globally distribute the crime scenes anyway. They also chose to hire only one person, five days per week to review flagged videos, and had a backlog of 706,000 flagged videos. Not only that, but PH hid the child abuse they were aware of from authorities for over 13 years by not reporting a single child abuse video to child protection agencies. The courageous victims taking P*rnhub and its owners to court deserve justice and reparations NOW. #Takedown #Traffickinghub *psudonym used

M · Jul 3, 2024

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