Cops to identify other victims

KUALA LUMPUR: Bukit Aman has identified two victims of convicted paedophile Richard Huckle, said the Inspector-General of Police.

Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the police would continue to get more information from their counterparts in Britain to identify the other victims.

“Now that the trial is over, hopefully they won’t be selfish with the information they have. We were informed in 2014 but they didn’t tell us more details besides telling us that he was a suspected paedophile,” he told repor­ters after attending the Police Cooperative Berhad annual general meeting yesterday.

He said police here tried to get more information on Huckle from Britain but no other information was given as “European countries’ bylaw does not allow them to cooperate with nations that enforce capital punishment, so there lies the problem”.

Khalid said he planned to request for his men to interview Huckle, who is serving 22 life sentences for 23 offences.

“We want to talk to him so that we can get more information about his victims,” he said.

Responding to a question, Khalid said the police welcomed reforms to the law to specifically address paedophiles.

“Any reforms to the law that would protect our children, we will support,” he said, adding that currently, statutory rape under Section 376 of the Penal Code and the Child Act were used to go after paedophiles.

Khalid said when dealing with cases like this, victims and family members would feel embarrassed but they shouldn’t.

“Come forward and lodge a report so that we can make sure justice is served,” he said.

Huckle, 30, will be in jail for at least 23 years for the crimes he committed on children aged between six months and 12 years from poor families in Kuala Lumpur.