Child porn and sex crimes: A slap on the wrist for 20 years of secret images

The Mainichi Shimbun
June 3, 2008
Source: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20080603p2a00m0na020000c.html

KASHIWARA, Osaka -- If the incident had never happened, the teacher could still be committing crimes.

On an autumn night, a 30-year-old guard on duty at an elementary school in Kashiwara rummaged through the desk and locker of a 53-year-old teacher at the school. He was after something he had spotted in the past.

What he stole was a video tape and photographs. They showed young girls naked and in their underwear as they changed for their pool lessons and took body measurements. The guard copied the images onto a DVD, and put it in the teacher's drawer with a note:

"Watch this by yourself. What do you think?"

The following morning, the teacher sent an e-mail to an address contained in the note. Soon, he got a reply suggesting he would have to pay up or face consequences.

"How much (money) can you prepare? You can still be a good husband, a good father, and a good teacher, just like up until now."

The teacher went to police, who arrested the guard on suspicion of attempted blackmail. Prefectural police searched the guard's home and other locations and seized six videos and about 500 photographs.

But the investigation was not finished. Police turned their attention to the teacher, investigating him on suspicion of violating the Law Punishing Acts Related to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.

When questioned by police, the teacher reportedly admitted having secretly taken images for about 20 years.

"I looked at a book of contributed images and thought that if that was the level, I could do the same thing myself," he was quoted as saying.

The teacher had graduated from a national university, and was employed as an educator in 1981. He had a good reputation as an enthusiastic teacher, and was dispatched to a Japanese school in Hong Kong. On his days off, he participated in nature preservation activities, and was an active tree planter.

Because the teacher knew a lot about digital equipment, he was placed in charge of audio-visual work. In classes, he taught children how to use computers, and at school events he was in charge of photography. But he ended up abusing the technology, exciting himself by taking secret footage and arranging images.

Just one month before the teacher's actions were uncovered, he had let the students use water pistols during a lesson, and ordered them to change out of their wet clothes in a classroom. They were captured on a hidden camera that was linked to a video deck in the neighboring classroom.

But police investigators reached a deadlock. The teacher had already deleted the images from his computer, and there was no evidence that he had provided them to anyone else. Under current laws in Japan, mere possession of child pornography for the purpose of personal viewing is not banned. The crime of simple production of child pornography is applicable only to images in which the children are made to engage in sexual poses, and could not be applied in the teacher's case. Eventually, the teacher was reported to public prosecutors on suspicion of violating the Minor Offence Law, and his punishment ended with a fine of under 10,000 yen.

"The law was too weak," said a frustrated law enforcer commenting on the investigation.

Later the teacher was sacked. He returned his teacher's license and disappeared from the teaching scene.

The Kashiwara Municipal Board of Education dispatched a counselor to attend to pupils and to prevent shock over the incident spreading. Workers searched the school and called for children to come to school, feeling at ease.

But fears related to the teacher's actions have not vanished.

"There's no guarantee that my daughter wasn't one of the victims," said one worried mother. "I hate to think what would happen if the images ended up on the Internet someday and she came across them."

Information on who was photographed has still not been released.

(Mainichi Japan) June 3, 2008

Teacher outs own student-centric kiddy porn stash after blackmail threats

The Mainichi Shimbun
December 24, 2007
Source: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/culture/waiwai/news/20071224p2g00m0dm009000c.html

An Osaka Public elementary schoolteacher known for being handy with a video camera has had his less salubrious works -- starring his students in the nude -- outed by another man just as crooked, Shukan Jitsuwa (12/20) says.

The 52-year-old teacher is facing some very tough questions after a homemade DVD found in his desk showed that he had allegedly been secretly filming elementary schoolgirls as they stripped off for pool sessions or health checks.

"He had over a dozen tapes in his desk, showing scenes where little girls were getting changed for swimming classes or taking their clothes off for health checks," a newspaper reporter covering the case tells Shukan Jitsuwa. "Police have confirmed he also has photos of the scantily clad little girls."

Parents of children at the elementary school in Kashiwara are shocked, saying the teacher, known for his attention to his pupils, was the most unlikely person to fall under the cloud of suspicion currently hanging over him.

"He was forever taking video of the kids when they went out on events like field trips. He'd edit the material and hand out DVDs or videos to every single pupil. It was very kind of him," a parent of one of the teacher's former pupils tells the lowbrow weekly.

Just as shocking as the claims being made about the teacher are the way his alleged misdeeds were discovered.

"Some time around the middle of November, Shogo Kanaguchi, a 30-year-old security guard carrying out a nighttime patrol at the school, opened the drawers in the teacher's desk and discovered the videos with the hidden camera footage on them. He took some home and copied them onto a DVD, which he put back in the drawer together with a note telling the teacher that he better be prepared to pay up if he wanted to keep his videos a secret," the newspaper hack says. "After that, Kanaguchi repeatedly sent the teacher demands for up to 1 million yen in hush money."

Petrified, the teacher complained to the police and Kanaguchi was arrested for attempted blackmail. But the teacher may also have cut his own throat, figuratively speaking, because now he is being investigated on suspicions that his videotaping of the little girls constitute a breach of an Osaka Prefectural Government ordinance outlawing people from creating a public nuisance. It's an offence that could find him in jail if he's arrested and convicted.

Parents, however, remain outraged at the goings-on.

"On Nov. 30, the school held an explanatory meeting for parents. People were furious, demanding to know whether their children had been caught on film or whether the teacher had been selling the footage or showing it off in other places," one mother tells Shukan Jitsuwa. "All the school would say, though, is that the cops are looking into the case and until they've decided what to do the matter was out of their hands." (By Ryann Connell)

（Mainichi Japan） December 24, 2007

WaiWai stories are transcriptions of articles that originally appeared in Japanese language publications. The Mainichi Daily News cannot be held responsible for the contents of the original articles, nor does it guarantee their accuracy. Views expressed in the WaiWai column are not necessarily those held by the Mainichi Daily News or the Mainichi Newspapers Co. WaiWai © Mainichi Newspapers Co. 1989-2007.

Elementary school security guard arrested over kiddy porn blackmail attempt

The Mainichi Shimbun
November 29, 2007
Source: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20071129p2a00m0na032000c.html

OSAKA -- A security guard from an elementary school in eastern Osaka Prefecture who tried to blackmail a teacher with photos and video of nude little girls found in the teacher's desk has been arrested, police said.

The guard in his 30s was arrested for attempted blackmail.

Police suspect somebody connected to the school was involved in producing the images featuring little girls getting changed into swimsuits or undergoing body measurements and are investigating the matter further.

School officials are also conducting their own probe into the case.

Sources said that during a routine patrol of the school in the middle of this month, the security guard found the videos and photos featuring naked children in a male teacher's desk and allegedly decided to use the materials to make a threat. He sent e-mail to the teacher's mobile phone asking him how much he was willing to pay to keep the find quiet. The teacher complained to the Osaka Prefectural Police and the security guard's alleged ploy was foiled.

A raid on the guard's home unearthed dozens of tapes featuring images of little girls.

Officials from the local board of education said the guard worked for a security company commissioned to patrol several elementary schools in the area.

The education board has received a report from the school that the security guard had stolen some photos of children from the school premises, board officials said.

（Mainichi Japan） November 29, 2007