An opposition party has called out the government over reports that a UK national, Richard Huckle, has been sexually abusing Malaysian children since 2005 under their very noses, asking if authorities are now doing anything to detect and prevent further or existing cases.

“What actions and efforts are being undertaken by Putrajaya to identify other paedophiles in Malaysia who may or may not be operating in the same manner as Huckle?” asked PKR in a statement today.

Other than looking into other possible offenders that may be preying on Malaysian children, PKR also wanted to know if both the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) and Putrajaya did anything when the case was brought to their attention.

“What actions and efforts did PDRM and Putrajaya take when the UK National Crime Agency (NCA) contacted them about Huckle’s activities in 2014?” the opposition party queried.

PKR also want to know if the Malaysian Immigration Department know that Huckle was on the NCA’s wanted list when he was at the immigration counter at a Malaysian airport, leaving for London in December of 2014?

“If yes, why was he allowed to leave the country?” asked the party.

The power to deny entry into Malaysia by undesirables is accorded by the Immigration Act to the immigration director-general.

Furthermore PKR asked what follow-up actions and efforts are being undertaken by Putrajaya to identify, protect, and counsel Huckle’s victims in Malaysia.

“As the public gains a clearer picture of the extent of Huckle’s vile acts, his victims and their families struggle to regain some sense of dignity and honour to move forward.

“We can only hope that the authorities can also explain why such a devious individual was not caught sooner, in order to correct these measures for the future,” concluded the political party.

PKR was referring to the case of the British paedophile who is facing a possible life sentence after pleading guilty to 71 offences of sexually abusing children, a number of those cases took place in Malaysia which he began visiting in 2005.

As reported by the media, Huckle was living permanently in Malaysia since 2011, and was in Malaysia when his activities were discovered. Though the UK NCA claims “jurisdictional issues meant they (NCA) were powerless to act while he remained (out of the UK)”.

He was finally caught when he returned to the UK for Christmas in 2014, and over 20,000 indecent images of Huckle abusing children as young as six months were discovered on his laptop, camera and phone.