[UPDATED] Op Pedo: Student nabbed with thousands of child sex abuse images

New Straits Times

20 hours ago

KUALA LUMPUR: A university student who possessed at least 5,000 child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) and adult pornographic content on his electronic devices has been arrested during a special operation dubbed Op Pedo.
Shockingly, some of the obscene materials were produced by the 20-year-old suspect himself and involved two local child victims.
Federal Criminal Investigation Department, Sexual, Women and Child Investigation Division (D11) principal assistant director, Senior Assistant Commissioner Siti Kamsiah Hassan said that based on information obtained through cooperation with Google, a raid was conducted at 4pm on April 29.
"The operation involved personnel from the Malaysia Internet Crime Against Children (MICAC) unit, the D11 division of Bukit Aman's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) as well as the Johor Police Contingent, who arrested the suspect at Pasir Gudang, Johor.
"Checks revealed the suspect was a university student and that authorities found 5,000 CSAM files and adult pornographic materials on his devices, believed to have been downloaded from the internet," she said when contacted today.
She added that some materials were also suspected to have been produced by the suspect himself, involving two local child victims.
"The arrest and the seizure of the mobile phone and laptop were carried out under Section 10 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 and Section 292 of the Penal Code.
"Further investigations revealed that the suspect had sexually exploited two children, aged four and nine, who were his cousins, and recorded the acts using his mobile phone," she said adding that these incidents occurred in Selangor, Pahang, and Kelantan.
Kamsiah said that three more separate investigation papers were opened to investigate the cases in the respective contingents.
"For the CSAM and pornography possession case, the suspect was charged in Johor on May 22, pleaded guilty, and paid a RM5,000 fine.
"As for the offence of recording acts with the children at the suspect's family home in Sungai Buloh between 2023 and 2025, he was charged today in Klang," she said.
She added that investigations into the incident involving the recording of a child bathing in a toilet at a duck farm in an oil palm estate in Maran, Pahang, are still being reviewed by the deputy public rosecutor (DPP).
"As for the incidents in Kelantan that took place last year and this year at the suspect's grandmother's house, investigations are still under review by the Attorney-General's Chambers (A-GC) ," she added.