KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 3,738 cases of sex crimes against children were brought to court from 2017 to August of this year, de facto law minister Liew Vui Keong told the Dewan Rakyat today.
Selangor registered the highest number of cases with 973, followed by Putrajaya (680) and Sarawak (338).
A total of 1,131 cases were convicted under the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 during the period. They included 387 convictions in Putrajaya.
Liew was replying to Azalina Othman (BN-Pengerang), who wanted a breakdown of figures of cases brought to court since the act, which she had tabled herself, was enforced two years ago.
He also identified several challenges in handling sex crimes against children, including advancements in technology, which complicated matters for prosecutors.
Liew said that dealing with witnesses, especially children, during a trial required a lot of patience and expertise.
“Child witnesses are very sensitive and some refuse to testify in court. And this makes it difficult for prosecutors,” he said.
He said that the credibility of a child witness was often disputed, while their testimonies were often vague.
“There are also witnesses who cannot testify that a suspect had committed sex crimes as it happened during a tender age,” he said.
Liew also lamented that at times, a video recording of a testimony by a child could not be done as the equipment was faulty.
He said there were times when the victims and families were reluctant to pursue the case and retracted the police report.
To a supplementary question by Azalina on whether Putrajaya intends to come up with a national protocol to assist the judges, prosecutors and police to carry out more progressive probes, Liew said: “It is a good idea, I will take note.” - FMT
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