MALAYSIA
Straits Times
Shannon Teoh Malaysia Bureau Chief In Kuala Lumpur
The rows of longhouses where the crimes took place are located near Taman Tun Dr Ismail, an upscale suburb less than 15km from downtown Kuala Lumpur.
It was in one of these dwellings that Briton Richard Huckle lived for over a year, separated by thin wooden walls from his victims who ranged in age from just six months to 13 years old.
The longhouses are provided by the Kuala Lumpur city council for blue-collar families, with each longhouse consisting of several family homes. It is a far cry from the neat bungalows and posh condos at Taman Tun Dr Ismail but, then again, in Malaysia as in much of the Third World, the rich and the poor often live side by side.
Huckle, 30, sexually abused 23 Malaysian children repeatedly, with British investigators saying there could have been up to 200 child victims during the nine years he spent around Kuala Lumpur’s suburbs.
Since news of his crimes broke last week, revulsion and deep anger have gripped many Malaysians.
Sky News reported on Huckle’s blog hidden on the dark Web – an encrypted part of the Internet often used for illegal activities.
“It’s not often in child porn that you can compare the bodies of a five-year-old and a 12-year-old that are the same girl,” he wrote.
“I’m sure I’ll have plenty more sex with (her) in the future… I hope, from the images you have seen, (you) enjoyed watching her grow.”
According to investigation papers seen by The Sunday Times, Huckle targeted vulnerable communities which were “extremely trustworthy, naive, close-knit, religious and poorly educated”.
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