PJ investigates over 150 school cases last year, 15 related to child sexual abuse

The mechanism of communication between schools and the Judiciary Police (PJ) – Communication Network for School Safety – has led the force to be called to investigate some 152 cases in 2022, statistics from the PJ and the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) show.

Among those cases, 15 were related to alleged child sexual abuse.

Another statistical release related to the first quarter (Q1) of this year also shows an exponential increase in this kind of case, with the PJ recording 23 cases (+53%) between January and March this year.

The fact led lawmaker Ngan Iek Hang to question the government on the matter, particularly on strategies for prevention of this kind of case, mostly involving contact between minors and adults via the internet, but also sometimes minors with other young people.

In response to Ngan’s written inquiry, the DSEDJ said it has been reinforcing its work on safety education so that young people can use the internet without danger and become aware of how to protect themselves from potential “sex predators”.

While the DSEDJ noted the 15 cases of alleged sexual abuse of minors related to schools, there was no data on the result from such investigations, or any information as to whether any cases resulted in formal accusations of the crime of sexual abuse of children.

The DSEDJ also did not specify the age of the alleged victims, which, according to information collected by the Times from the PJ, usually indicates the victims are younger than 14 years old.