Child sexual abuse material offenders may escalate to more serious crimes, warn police

KUALA LUMPUR: Police have warned that individuals who access or possess online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) may escalate to more serious offences, including grooming, sextortion and sexual crimes against children.

The Bukit Aman sexual, women and child investigation division’s (D11) principal assistant director, Siti Kamsiah Hassan, said the trend had been identified through investigations conducted by the division and the Malaysia Internet Crimes Against Children Centre into CSAM-related cases.

Siti Kamsiah said repeated exposure to online child sexual abuse material could lead to behavioural addiction, a condition in which individuals are compelled to seek more content and spend longer periods accessing such material.

“Like other forms of addiction, those who are continuously exposed to CSAM may require increasingly extreme content to achieve the same level of satisfaction,” she told Bernama.

She said the investigations had found that online communities sharing such material typically operated within closed groups, whose members often did not know one another personally.

“They are connected by a shared interest in such content. Over time, these groups form extensive networks, as they develop their own connections and exchange material with others,” she said.

Siti Kamsiah said demand for such content also fuelled exploitation, with some individuals selling the material to others for financial gain.

She said those involved in the possession, storage or distribution of CSAM came from diverse occupational backgrounds, age groups, and social strata.

Previously, deputy communications minister Teo Nie Ching said CSAM cases recorded by police increased from 68 in 2024 to 152 last year, while 100 cases had been recorded so far this year.

She said the figures could represent only a fraction of the actual situation, as greater internet connectivity and the growing availability of content-generation tools had made such material easier to produce and disseminate.