KULAI: A 16-year-old boy has pleaded guilty to possessing 14 pornographic images on his mobile phone.
The underage accused, who was brought before magistrate R. Salini yesterday, was charged with committing the offence in Taman Indahpura here at 5.28pm on April 8.
The offence, under Section 292(a) of the Penal Code, is punishable with a jail term of up to three years, a fine or both, upon conviction.
The teenager was also charged with generating explicit content involving a 17-year-old by editing her photos into pornographic images.
However, the accused pleaded not guilty to the second charge, which was framed under Section 5 of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act.
If found guilty, the court may impose a warning, a good behaviour bond, a fine, community service, or placement in an approved school, such as Henry Gurney School.
Salini allowed bail at RM4,000 for each count of the charges with one surety.
The court also set June 23 for the next mention.
Deputy public prosecutor S. Thiviya prosecuted while the accused was represented by a lawyer.
The boy arrived at court around 8.30am, dressed in a white T-shirt and a face mask.
His father appeared at the court building and paid the bail.
According to earlier reports, the teenager, a former student from a private independent school here, allegedly used artificial intelligence (AI) to generate lewd images of schoolmates and alumni and sold them for RM2 each.
A 19-year-old victim lodged a police report after finding an explicit image with her likeness on social media.
Up until April 15, at least 29 reports had been filed.
Meanwhile, mother of two Sammy Lee, 42, expressed her concerns and highlighted the need to better educate children about the harmful effects of digitally manipulated images or videos.
“With AI widely available for free, users, including children, have access to tools that can generate all sorts of content.
“While we cannot monitor their online activities all the time, parents need to talk to their children about why they should never create deepfake content, especially pornographic images, which can cause harm to others,” she said.
Mother of three Bashirah Arifin, 45, said the case was a reminder that no child is truly safe online, even those who do not misuse the technology.
She said her two older children, aged 13 and 11, are not using tools such as ChatGPT for school or leisure but are familiar with AI through TikTok content.
“As a parent, I am worried, as they could still fall victim to abuse from others.
“That is why I emphasise open communications with my children and tell them that having an online presence means they are opening the door to outsiders,” she said.
“They need to understand the dangers of making friends online.
“I also remind them that they are not allowed to cyberbully anyone and must inform us if they become victims of cyberbullying,” said the housewife.
Johor education and information committee chairman Aznan Tamin said while the case involved a private school, steps have been taken to monitor the situation in public schools to ensure such incidents do not recur.
