Police watching porn while on duty leads to escape of rape suspect

TOKYO (Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network): A police sergeant who is responsible for supervising detainees in Osaka, Japan was recently found to be watching porn at the time when a rape and theft suspect was making his escape.

Aside from viewing pornographic material, the police sergeant (name withheld) who is in his 40s also read baseball news on his phone at the time of the incident, as reported by Nikkan Sports via The Tokyo Reporter on Thursday, Dec. 13. He was sanctioned with six months of reduced pay.

What the sergeant was watching at the time of the incident was not relayed to the public back in October, when the seven police officers who neglected their duty, including the sergeant, were reprimanded, as per report. Apparently, the reason why it was not made public was because the sergeant’s only violation was bringing his phone to work.

“The violation was bringing a smartphone into the detention cell,” a source told the publication. “What was being watched doesn’t make [the situation] more serious.”

Junya Hida, who was accused of theft and rape of a woman in her 20s, broke out of the detention center on Aug. 12 after meeting with a lawyer. Despite 20 officers on duty, no one noticed the rape suspect escape.

He was able to evade the authorities for a month, the report said. He was finally captured after he was caught shoplifting food items on Sept. 29. It was later learned that he even participated in a cycling tour after his escape. – Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network