TOKYO: The Aichi prefectural police on Tuesday (June 24) arrested two schoolteachers in Nagoya and Yokohama on suspicion of taking indecent photos of girls and sharing them on social media.
The two suspects are Yuji Moriyama, 42, a teacher at Nagoya municipal Kosaka Elementary School in Tenpaku Ward, Nagoya, and Fumiya Kosemura, 37, also a teacher at Yokohama municipal Hongodai Elementary School in Totsuka Ward, Yokohama.
The police arrested them on suspicion of violating a law against photographing sexual postures.
According to the police’s announcement, Moriyama took photos of a schoolgirl in her underwear in a facility in Aichi Prefecture around September last year, and Kosemura did the same in a facility in Kanagawa Prefecture around January this year.
Then they allegedly shared the indecent photo images with members of an online chat group. The two suspects admitted to the allegations, the police said.
Moriyama is the administrator of the social media chat group. The police confirmed that he possessed about 70 photos and videos which depict girls changing clothes and images inside girls’ skirts.
The Aichi prefectural police were investigating the case on the presumption that the chat group comprises schoolteachers whose hobby is photo and video voyeurism.
The criminal acts were detected in March this year when another schoolteacher was arrested on suspicion that he put body fluid on a backpack which a girl held at a train station platform in Nagoya.
Through investigation of the man, who was arrested on suspicion of property destruction, the Aichi prefectural police discovered the existence of the online chat group and had been investigating it.
About 10 in chat group
On Wednesday, it was found that nearly 10 people have participated in the group sharing the indecent photos and videos, according to investigation sources.
The Aichi prefectural police analysed the contents posted in the group chat and judged that all the members could be schoolteachers.
The police were checking how the group was formed.
According to the sources, analyses by the prefectural police of confiscated smartphones found that members of the group told one another their impressions of the photos and videos which they posted.
One response said, “This is so good,” and another said, “I can’t help staring at them.”
The postings were made under fictitious names, and other details, such as names of the schools, were not disclosed.
But there were postings such as “Closing ceremony is held today” and “It’s tomorrow in my school.” - The Yomiuri Shimbun
