Pair face charges for sending child pornography DVD to U.S.

The Mainichi Shimbun
December 14, 2007
Source: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/national/news/20071214p2a00m0na009000c.html

Two men accused of exporting a DVD containing child pornography to the United States have been referred to public prosecutors on suspicion of violating the law against child pornography and the Customs Law, police said.

Facing charges are the 42-year-old operator of a member-based adult site, and a 39-year-old suspect, who have already been charged with storing child pornography with the intent to supply it. It is reportedly the first time for a case to be formed against suspects accused of exporting child pornography out of Japan.

Investigators said the pair sent a DVD to an IT-related company in the United States to have child pornography uploaded to a server managed by the company in December 2006. The same year, child pornography became a banned item under a revision to Japan's Customs Law.

The site operated by the 42-year-old suspect allows members to download material including child pornography multiple times over a fixed period. It reportedly has about 27,000 members, and since it was set up in June 2006, it has raked in about 22 million yen in profits, police said.

（Mainichi Japan） December 14, 2007