PETALING JAYA, May 31 — Paedophiles do not always act out their sexual desires while some have never abused children, a psychiatrist said today.

University Malaya (UM) Associate Professor and consultant psychiatrist Dr Ng Ching Guan also told a paedophilia and mental health talk that stigmatisation prevents paedophiles from seeking treatment.

“Some did not act on their arousal, some never abused children before,” Dr Ng said at the talk at University Malaya Medical Centre here.

“To them, these kids are just an object to satisfy their sexual desires. They may feel aroused looking at these kids but do necessarily initiate any sexual contact,” he added.

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Paedophilia is characterised by a person’s sexual interest towards someone below the age of 11.

Using Nur Fitri Azmeen Nordin, the Malaysian student convicted in the UK for possessing child pornographic materials, as an example, Dr Ng pointed out that paedophilia can occur at all levels of society regardless of education level or intelligence.

Nur Fitri, who was studying on a scholarship under Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) at Imperial College London, was sentenced to 18 months’ jail for possessing over 30,000 videos and photographs of child pornography when the police raided his home in London last November.

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MARA had immediately rescinded Nur Fitri’s scholarship when the maths student was sentenced on April 30 and told him to pay back his study loan.