KUALA LUMPUR, June 6 — Students of a higher learning institution here were shocked to learn their classmate, Richard Huckle, who they described as “quiet and humble”, had sexually abused 200 children in Malaysia, Cambodia and India.

The 30-year-old Briton pursued a diploma in Information Technology and Computing at Kuala Lumpur Metropolitan University and completed his course in 2012.

A. Sasitharan, 24, said he had tried approaching Huckle several times during classes but Huckle always kept to himself.

“Even during group assignments and presentations, he chose to do them on his own,” Sasitharan said, adding they were in the same English language class.

“He used to carry a camera and a sketch book when he attended classes.”

Edo Prima Satrianas, 24, who was Huckle’s classmate for three semesters, said: “Huckle was very quiet. He was given a hostel room but stayed at another place outside campus.

“I’ve heard him saying he wanted to return to the UK. He always immediately left the college building after class,” he said.

The university’s former head of student affairs, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Huckle’s appearances changed over the years he attended the course.

“When he first joined, he was neat and tidy. The following year, he started looking messy and had loss plenty of weight. Some of the students thought he was on drugs,” he said.

He said Huckle was always alone when he visited the international student’s department.

“He used to sit outside the department and was always hooked on his phone. He was rather humble when dealing with my former colleagues.”

Kuala Lumpur CID chief SAC Rusdi Mohd Isa said his personnel, upon instructions from Bukit Aman, visited two areas — Taman Wahyu and Taman Tun Dr Ismail — in search of the peadophile’s acquaintances to uncover details of his repeated visits to Malaysia since 2005 before he was arrested in the UK two years ago.

Rusdi said police had recorded a statement from a caretaker of a place of worship in Taman Wahyu.

Malay Mail previously found the Huckle’s tutoring profile on Gradtutor.my, which stated he had an IT degree from the local university.  It also stated he had a Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (Celta) from the British Council in Kuala Lumpur.

Huckle had also offered tutoring services to kindergarten, primary and secondary students in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya.

The profile, believed to have been drafted by Huckle himself, has been deleted after news broke that the peadophile had exploited 22 children in Malaysia.

Huckle was arrested by British police upon his arrival at Gatwick Airport after he returned to celebrate Christmas with his family in 2014. 

He pleaded guilty to 71 of 91 counts of child sex offences, including rape. He is due to be sentenced today.