In the Malaysian state of Sarawak, there is a seaside town called Lunle County.
With a pleasant climate and beautiful scenery, and a population of just over 30,000 people, it is called "the rural town of sleep" by tourism agencies.
(Beaches in Nørnle County)
But unbeknownst to the residents, beneath the calm surface, Lunle County hides a dark secret:
For fourteen years, dozens of children in the town have been sexually abused by a local man.
He also filmed his criminal record and put it on the dark web, becoming one of the most wanted child sex offenders by law enforcement around the world.
The police didn't know what his real name was, they knew only his online name, and he put more than 1,000 videos and photos of sexual assault on the dark web.
Since appearing on the dark web in 2007, the man has been careful not to show his face, and the camera is always aimed at the poor children.
From the appearance, some children are very young, only two or three years old, ignorant of what criminals do.
Older children can be in their teens, some being seduced by men or some being raped.
Men often brag about his "hunting" skills on dark web forums, saying that the people here are poor, the children have never seen the world, lend them mobile phones to play, and they are willing to let themselves do whatever they want.
(Streets of Lunle County)
On the dark web, the man spread so much child pornography that it caught the attention of police in Australia, the United States and Malaysia.
Australian child victim identification experts have analyzed that at least 34 children have been sexually assaulted by the man, between the ages of 2 and 16.
Such a egregious act led multinational police to list him as one of the "top ten child exploiters on the Internet in the world" in an internal report in 2019.
Hunting him down is imminent.
However, finding an anonymous criminal on the dark web is really difficult...
The dark web is a place where the IP has been converted layer by layer, and the police cannot find the real IP of the forum user, so they cannot find his geographical location.
The only thing the police can know about him is the child pornography videos he shot.
From 2019 to 2020, the Australian Federal Police, queensland police and child victim identification teams processed countless photos in an attempt to find the same scenes as in pornographic videos.
Last August, Australian anti-child sexual exploitation experts found a photo of a man on social networks, and the place where he took the picture resembled the one he appeared in the video.
After Police Australia sent the photos to Malaysia, the Royal Malaysian Police and even the US Department of Homeland Security joined the investigation.
"There were so many victims under his command, so we put all our efforts into finding him." Daniel Burnicle, Apsaray Police Officer in Kuala Lumpur, told the Sydney Morning Herald.
However, even if the photo is found, the social account it is on has no other information, and the IP address is hidden.
With just one photo, you can't find out who this person is all over the world.
Thankfully, Australia's financial intelligence unit, AUSTRAC, filled in the final important puzzle.
Earlier this year, the Australian Criminal Justice Commission and the Malaysian government worked together to obtain a large number of financial records.
When AUSTRAC was browsing the financial records, it accidentally found that the photo attached to one of the records was the same as the photo of the man found on the social networking site before.
The financial records all had detailed personal information, and they immediately told the news to Malaysia, and soon, the Malaysian police knew the identity of the person.
He is Alladin Lanim, a 40-year-old man living in Lunle County, Kuching Province, Sarawak.
(Photo of Aladdin Ranim's arrest)
The Malaysian police gave the address, he was out of the house for many years, if it was before, they did not know where he was.
But just because of the epidemic, quarantine centers have been set up everywhere in Malaysia, and all those who enter the centers must be informed of their identity.
In July, Malaysian police directly asked the quarantine center if there were any records of Ranim.
The quarantine center checked, and there really was.
Ranim had recently returned to Sarawak on a previous trip to Sarawak, where others were quarantined at sarawak's quarantine centre.
On July 5, ranim had just lifted his quarantine when he stepped out to find Malaysian police surrounded outside.
He was immediately arrested.
At his residence, police were surprised to find four other child victims between the ages of 9 and 14.
The children have now been rescued.
Last month, in court in Kuching province, Ranim pleaded guilty to 18 charges and was sentenced to 48 years in prison and 15 lashes.
The sin is finally over.
Local media reported that from 2018 to April this year, Ranim molested five boys in a plantation dormitory and porch in Renle County.
His method is the same as in the video, first using the game on the mobile phone to seduce them, then taking them to watch pornographic videos, and then directly getting started himself.
Of course, these are just a few of his 14-year criminal history, and the police are currently investigating 34 victims, and the actual number should be higher.
(Residential area of Lunle County)
Fatimah Abdullah, minister at Malaysia's Ministry of Women and Child Development, said parts of the investigation were continuing and the police chose to close the case before contacting the victims.
Latima also mentioned that they will teach children and parents not to be deceived by pedophilia.
(Minister Latima Abdullah)
"Pedophiles focus on children's weaknesses, such as those who want to play games but can't use their smartphones."
"They will first allow children to play games on their phones, deceive their trust, and then commit sexual assault." As parents, we must monitor our children's every move, understand who they are with and what they are doing. ”
The Malaysian case reminds many of British pedophile Richard Huckle.
(Photo of Richard Hacker with the child)
In order to satisfy his desires, Hakel went to Malaysia as an English teacher and used his position to sexually assault more than 200 Malaysian children, aged between 6 months and 12 years old.
He had sexually assaulted four girls in a family, giving him extra points for each girl.
He also wanted to marry a girl who had been raped by himself since he was 7 years old and form a foster family with her so that he could constantly abuse the children who lived in the family.
(Haeckel was eventually stabbed to death by his fellow inmates in prison and raped before his death.)
On his computer, he gave a list of more than 200 victims, ranked by degree of sexual abuse, with thousands of photos attached. It's the ultimate manifestation of his madness.
Like Ranim, Hacker was found by an Australian police team that specializes in investigating child sexual exploitation.
Because of the lack of technical means, people like Ranim and Haqel can lurk in Malaysia for many years.
This has sparked anger online, believing that the local police are too idle and can only rely on foreign aid to arrest them.
"We have a lot of high-risk pedophiles, and as a result, at least twice, we have been caught by foreign police. Are these pedophiles in our hands able to get away with it and happily find new victims? ”
But catching child sex offenders on the dark web is really not an easy task, anonymous IP, encrypted files, fake identities, and only a few countries have the technology to search for who the culprits are behind them.
Warwick Macfariane, Australia's Southeast Asia Police Chief, said that in order to catch criminals more efficiently, it is the best strategy for global police to work together in the future.
"Our goal is to protect children, wherever they live, and anyone who tries to harm them is identified and taken to court."
There is no corner in the world left for child sex offenders, hoping that under the pursuit of police around the world, they have nowhere to hide
Source: British Stuff