The Dewan Negara passes the Sexual Offences Against Children (Amendment) Bill 2026, expanding Malaysia’s legal reach over child sexual offences committed abroad.
KUALA LUMPUR: The Dewan Negara today passed the Sexual Offences Against Children (Amendment) Bill 2026 to expand Malaysia’s legal jurisdiction over child sexual offences committed outside the country’s territory.
Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) M. Kulasegaran said the amendment is important as child sexual crime cases involving foreign nationals in Malaysia recorded a 117% increase over the five-year period from 2021 to 2025.
He said Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) statistics showed that the number of reported cases rose from 1,095 in 2021 to 2,385 last year.
“The number of foreign suspects has shown an upward trend, increasing from 67 in 2021 to 148 in 2025, with the majority comprising Indonesian, Bangladeshi, Myanmar and Pakistani nationals.
“Malaysia cannot rely on a limited jurisdictional framework. This amendment ensures that any individual with a substantial connection to Malaysia cannot evade legal action simply because the offence was committed abroad,” he said when winding up the debate on the bill in the Dewan Negara here.
Kulasegaran said the amendment was crucial to ensure Malaysia had sufficient jurisdiction to take action against perpetrators of child sexual offences who had a clear connection to Malaysia, even if the offences involved cross-border elements.
He also said the Royal Malaysia Police had identified five key areas of focus in digital forensic investigations to address the threat of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and deepfake content generated using artificial intelligence (AI).
He said the measures include analysing AI models, examining system logs, tracing IP addresses, and verifying data integrity through hash values to ensure the digital chain of custody remained admissible in court in efforts to combat technology-enabled sexual crimes.
“The main focus of the investigation is to establish the link between the digital content and the suspect through valid digital evidence, reliable forensic analysis and a complete, unbroken chain of custody.
“In the context of the Bill tabled today, technological developments, including the use of AI, also show that child sexual offences are becoming increasingly complex and can occur across national borders,” he said.
Kulasegaran said the five areas of focus in the police’s digital investigations included the seizure and preservation of digital evidence to safeguard the chain of custody, digital forensic examinations through analysis of system logs and hash values, and AI content analysis to detect deepfake images or videos.
He said investigations also involved gathering supporting evidence such as telecommunications records and digital platform logs to link suspects to the offences, followed by the preparation of digital forensic expert reports to support the scientific findings of the case.
Earlier, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, when tabling the Bill for its second reading, said the amendment sent a clear message that Malaysia would not compromise with or tolerate those who sexually exploited children and destroyed their future.
She said although the Bill was brief in form, its impact was significant as it enabled enforcement action in circumstances not previously covered under the existing provisions.
The Bill, which was passed by the Dewan Rakyat on June 30, seeks to amend the Sexual Offences Against Children Act 2017 (Act 792) to extend the Act’s extraterritorial application to offences committed overseas where the offender or victim has a connection to Malaysia.
The Dewan Negara sitting resumes on Monday.
