Increase in cases with juvenile rapists, police warn of easier access to explicit content

Police statistics show that juvenile perpetrators have been involved in more than a third of reported rape cases in the first 10 months of 2019.

The Star Online, in an exclusive report today, revealed that the victims were often young teenage girls aged 13 to 15 years.

Bukit Aman principal assistant director of the sexual, women and child investigations division (D11) Choo Lily said the easier access to pornographic material, especially online and on social media, was the main cause.

Of the 822 rape cases reported so far in 2019, juvenile offenders accounted for 289 of them, constituting 35 percent.

There has been a rise in the age group in the past three years.

In 2016, juvenile rapists accounted for 25 percent (427 cases) of the total 1,698 rape cases. In 2017, it rose to 31 percent (492 cases) of the total 1,582 rape cases.

Last year, the total number of rape cases dipped to 1,327 but juvenile rapists still made up 34 percent (451 cases).

Influenced by explicit videos

Choo said that a majority of juvenile rape cases involved teenagers but there were cases where children attempted to rape their peers.

“Most of the cases involved young couples who wanted to try out a sex act after watching pornographic videos. There are also instances of children below the age of 12 trying to imitate sex acts they saw on videos,” she was quoted as saying in the daily.

Choo said many of these juvenile offenders were either unaware of or lacked the maturity to understand the consequences of rape, be it forced or statutory.

The report also quoted consultant paediatrician Dr Amar Singh HSS, who concurred that exposure to explicit content could have contributed to the rise in juvenile rape cases.

Another reason was insufficient sex education at schools.

Amar proposed students be taught “sexual protection behaviour” to equip them against sexual advances.

“We need to teach our children proper sex education, and we can call it ‘sexual protection behaviour’. 

"Children can be taught how to tell their parents when someone suggests, does or shows something to them, including how to handle pornographic material when they are shown such things, ” he said.