By Akbar Satar

Pedophilia is not a new sex crime. What is new is the attention it is receiving in the public arena in Malaysia especially after the conviction of Richard Huckle.

A pedophile is an individual who prefers to have sex with children in order to achieve sexual pleasure and excitement. This is an unnatural desire and the attraction for sexual relations is limited to children.

Sexual abuse of children can begin without it being immediately detected because it can be a small act in everyday life. Pedophiles come from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds. They are normally male, from any race, educated or uneducated, young or old, rich or poor, employed or unemployed, religious or non-religious, a father, family member or trusted co-worker or professional.

Huckle used his “wealth and status as a Westerner” to exploit children. Pedophiles hide behind the cloak of normality, morality and respectability within the community. Research reveals that nine out of ten are close to the mothers.

One of the most popular criminological theories is the notion that criminal behaviour is learned in association with those who have criminal attitudes and values. Therefore, the majority of criminologists believe the behaviour of a pedophile is caused by environmental factors (nurture) involving upbringing and the life experiences of the individual. Furthermore, most pedophiles confess that they themselves were victims of sexual abuse as a child.

However, recent studies suggest that pedophilia can likely be fostered by genetic or biological traits (nature) which eventually lead to criminal behaviour. Colleen Berryessa, a criminologist, cites a 2014 Korean report on monozygotic twins with pedophilia which concluded that genetic influences appeared to be more important to the causes and development of pedophilia than environmental factors, including childhood abuse.

There however seems to be little or no agreement about what conclusively makes an individual engage in pedophilia.

Experts also believe that there is no permanent treatment to cure pedophiles although some claim therapy can work despite it being a challenge. Since pedophiles are sociopaths whose behaviour is antisocial coupled with a distinct lack of empathy and moral responsibility for their victims, the disorder is chronic and lifelong.

Studies show that pedophiles have the recidivism rate and are repeat offenders even after imprisonment or treatment.

Criminogenic asymmetry factors such as a relaxed atmosphere, weaknesses in laws and enforcement produce criminal opportunity and motive for foreign pedophiles like Huckle himself to take advantage of the weak internal controls in a country to search for victims. The penalty in their home country is normally more severe.

To fight this crime we need legislative changes, more effective laws, intelligence gathering and sharing, technology such as facial recognition and enhanced investigation capabilities by training specialists.

Huckle operates a website called The Love Zone (TLZ) on the Dark Web, a hidden network used to maintain anonymity. His site consisted of photos which he shared with other members of the children he abused. The web is accessible only with specialised software or by conducting deep web analysis. To make it more complicated, cyber-criminals often use encryption to protect malicious data and communications.

There should also be increased focus on proper enforcement and skill level in conducting cybercrime investigations in order to reduce the use of the Dark Web for committing child sexual activities.

While crime prevention should be the priority of the police, it should not be their sole responsibility. Preventing crime is the obligation of everyone in society. As such parents, schools and other family members have the responsibility to ensure children are safe. They must also instil in children a strong appreciation of right and wrong.

As parents are the most important people in a child’s lives, they must make sure their kids are not exposed to situations where irresponsible people can take advantage of them. They must pay attention and respond when any adult seems too focused on befriending a child. Parents should make spot checks on child nurseries and babysitters and do not allow a child to go alone on vacation or spend the night with someone other than those proven to be trustworthy and reliable. Certainly do not assume that a person is reliable because of position, status, title or working in a place where children commonly gather.

At this point, our country still does not have a central registry for child abusers and pedophiles. The data is very important as it would contain the particulars of sex offenders, allowing law enforcement agencies to keep track of and monitor child sexual activities in our community. We need to protect our children.

Akhbar Satar is the President of Transparency International (TI) Malaysia.

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