‘The acts we see done to the children are abnormal': CID officer

The Singaporean man met the teenager in her country, and they became a couple when she was about 16 years old.

She came to Singapore to stay with him, but he later asked her to prostitute herself to help him settle his debts.

She agreed to do this when she turned 18, and when they were caught by the police, she defended him even though he had been taking advantage of her.

This case stuck out for Inspector Bryan Ang Tai Yong, 38, a senior investigation officer with the Specialised Crime Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

He focuses on child sexual abuse material offences, which most people refer to as child pornography.

Insp Ang, who has been with the branch for 11 years, said it took a long time before the victim confided in him, and the man was jailed.

He said: “This girl is well-educated and comes from a normal family. She told me she might have developed Stockholm syndrome and pitied the man.”

Stockholm syndrome refers to an emotional response where abuse victims have positive feelings or sympathy towards an abuser.

The girl eventually returned to her country.

Besides investigating cases of physical sexual abuse, Insp Ang also delves into cyberspace to expose such crimes.

He said technological advancements have made it easier for perpetrators to approach children by creating fake online accounts and pretending to be younger people.

After investing time talking to potential victims, they coax the victims to send intimate pictures or videos of themselves.

The predators then force these children to provide more material through extortion.

Insp Ang’s job involves sifting through such footage to look for possible victims who might need to be rescued as some might be held captive by their abusers.

But viewing such images can take a toll on officers.

Insp Ang, the father of an eight-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl, said: “The acts we see done to the children are abnormal.

“You can hear them crying and screaming for help. When I go home and see my children crying or screaming, the images start to merge.”

He added that there were times when he went home and would feel hesitant about approaching his children. “Somehow, the images in my head follow me home, and it affects how I interact with my own children.”

The CID officer said that while there have not been any Singaporeans caught producing child sexual abuse materials, several have been arrested for possessing such footage and pictures.

And technology has made it possible for perpetrators to store massive amounts of data online.

Said Insp Ang: “In the past, they had to buy a DVD or a physical hard disk to store the material. Now, they can do it easily with cloud storage devices. They are no longer limited by physical storage devices.”

He said storage devices with around 30 terabytes of data were seized by the police in a recent raid, highlighting the amount of material that can be held by one person.

With such technological advances, tougher laws were introduced to better tackle crimes involving child sexual abuse material.

On Sept 16, Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling said amendments made to the Penal Code in 2019 led to about 140 police investigations into cases involving these offences.

The enhanced laws criminalise the production, distribution, advertising and possession of such material.

Those convicted of possessing or gaining access to child abuse material can be jailed for up to five years, and fined or caned.

Those convicted of distributing, selling or offering child abuse material for sale, or possessing child abuse material for the purpose of distribution, can be jailed for up to seven years, and can also be fined or caned.

Anyone convicted of possessing any obscene film can be fined up to $20,000, jailed for up to six months, or both.