Abu Dhabi: Prosecutors have opened questioning of a suspect paedophile, who appeared in a video clip posted on social media, allegedly attempting to solicit minors for sexual exploitation, an official source at the public prosecution said.
“The man was earlier taken in for questioning by the competent authority, based on an arrest warrant issued by the Public Prosecution, after he was monitored by the prosecution’s surveillance center,” the source added.
The source confirmed the suspect sex offender was informed of his rights, and subjected to detailed interrogation, and an order was issued to remand him in custody pending trial.
Prosecutors affirmed the production of any indecent material that offends public decency and disseminating of these materials through social media is a major crime, that prompts the arrest of culprits.
They said the penalty is five years imprisonment and a fine of SR3 million ($799,000), according to cybercrime laws.
“Child sexual abuse is an aggravating factor, leading to a harsher penalty for a convicted criminal, according to the anti-harassment and child protection laws,” a prosecutor said.
A well-controlled descriptive case-series analysis study of child physical and sexual abuse in Dammam, Saudi Arabia showed six out of 87 reported cases, 85 per cent of the assaults were sexual, 12.6 per cent of the assaults were non-sexual and 2.3 per cent were combined (both sexual and non-sexual abuse).
Cases of sexual abuse were significantly higher in the older age group in comparison to the non-sexually assaulted group, which occurred more often at younger ages. Most victims were females (56.3%) and Saudi (90.8%).
Another Saudi study of 188 cases conducted in Riyadh medical city 2010, showed that physical abuse composed the majority of cases (48.9%) followed by neglect (32.3%), and then sexual abuse (15%). Emotional abuse represented the remaining proportion (3.8%).
