Health Ministry mulls sending child psychologists to assess paedophile's victims

The Health Ministry is considering sending child psychologists to asses victims of convicted British paedophile Richard Huckle, on the extent they have been affected, said its minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam.

He said the assessment would be conducted in a way that would not traumatise the children.

"The assessment will be more on the supportive side so that they can overcome this problem," he told reporters when asked to comment on the mental health of the victims.

Dr Subramaniam was met after accompanying Raja Permaisuri Agong Tuanku Hajah Haminah on a visit to the National Cancer Institute here today.

Huckle was sentenced to life imprisonment by a London court on Monday for abusing 23 Malaysian and Cambodian babies and children over almost a decade.

Asked if the Health Ministry knows who are the victims, Dr Subramaniam replied: "To some extent."

Reuters reported that Huckle, 30, was given 22 life sentences and would serve at least 23 years behind bars for his crimes against impoverished victims aged six months to 11 years.

Huckle had pleaded guilty to 71 offences and was found with over 20,000 indecent images of children on his computer and camera when he was arrested at Gatwick Airport in 2014.

The British media reported recently that Huckle, a freelance photographer might have abused up to 200 children aged between six months and 12 years, from 2006 to 2014.

A total of 91 charges had been levelled against him and the victims were mostly from poor communities in Kuala Lumpur.