crime

61-year-old man arrested for stealing women’s underwear says he’s been doing it for 20 years

20 Comments

Police in Tokyo said Tuesday have arrested a 61-year-old deliveryman on suspicion of stealing women’s underwear and said they had found more than 1,000 items of women’s lingerie and clothing at his home.

According to police, the suspect, Yasushi Kobayashi, who works for a printing company in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, has admitted to the charge and said he had been stealing women’s underwear and stockings for the past 20 years because he liked to wear them ever since he was young, Fuji TV reported.

Kobayashi was arrested for stealing nine items that had been hung out to dry at a costume rental shop in Higashi-nippori in Tokyo’s Arakawa Ward on April 17. When police searched his home, they found more than 1,000 items of women’s underwear and clothing

Police quoted Kobayashi as saying that while he was making deliveries in his truck, he would often steal lingerie that been hung out to dry on balconies or from washing machines in coin laundries.

Police said Kobayashi was identified by street surveillance camera footage which showed hin getting back into his truck after having stolen the items in April.

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has admitted to the charge and said he had been stealing women’s underwear and stockings for the past 20 years because he liked to wear them ever since he was young,

Police said Kobayashi was identified by street surveillance camera footage which showed hin getting back into his truck after having stolen the items in April.

If he's been doing this for 20 years, why has he only been caught now?

5 ( +5 / -0 )

i can understand stealing dirty underwear if you are a little bit alternative, but clean underwear? just go to the 100 yen shop and buy new ones and wear in a private location. i know so many women who suffer from this crime. it is almost normal to hide underwear for the very reason it will be stolen.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Sheesh...sounds like Happosai....or Arnold Layne.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

If he's been doing this for 20 years, why has he only been caught now?

Well, Aly, could be that the underwear stealee is embarrassed to report it to the police and it could be that the police don't consider this a major crime and don't wish to use their maximum operational strength on it. I imagine their SWAT teams, helicopters and surveillance personnel have more important things to do.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

personnel have more important things to do.

sorry to disappoint you. Jpolice would love such a complaint. three of them have to leave the office away from their bully boss. it will take at least a week to take photos, measure balcony heights etc. then, they have to make a report, which involves lots of paper and stamping. their boss can't bully them because they are on an important case. then another day to file the compliant. if they are really lucky, and by some strange chance they can find the perf, it is bingo time for them. it will take 2-3 months of questioning and more reports. when they have obtained the confession, it will be sent to the judge for review and sentencing. expect 6 months as there are not enough prosecutors in japan. in the meantime, as part of their job, the can do back-up inquires to get them out of the office and away from the nightmare boss. luckily they have new air-con Lexus patrol cars.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

OK, so he stole women's underwear to satisfy some sort of perversion. That is better than guys who actually express their perversion directly on women by sexual-harassment or train molesting and the like.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

I agree with gokai_wo_maneku, its much more mild than molesting children or women. And at least he made it women not girls or boys. Still a perv though, but a harmless one

1 ( +2 / -1 )

One wonders Why he did not Buy his own thats very Kinky

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Not as bad as being molested, is it, to know that someone has found their way onto your balcony, and has stolen some personal items? Here's what goes through the victims' heads:

"Has he been watching me? Does he know my apartment number, my name, my schedule? Should I be more careful entering and leaving the house? Do I have to hang my laundry indoors from now on? Must I make double-triple-sure every window is locked? If I use a public laundromat, do I have to guard my laundry the whole time? What if it escalates, what if he breaks in...?"

Just because it's not one kind of offence, doesn't make it less of a crime, or less frightening and threatening behaviour.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Actually is not about the level of assault that make "do the job" to the Jpolice officers, it is just if there are an explicit proof of the assault AND confession of the perpetrator.

 Without those, the Jpolice will rarely move.

Believe me, I have been assaulted twice by the same person ( a stalker)  and called to cops twice only to hear me say " be careful to not meet him again".

Japan is a very safe country as everyone say...

I am pretty sure, people complain about the stolen underwears but police didn't move until they have a video + confession.. That is why, he could steal for 20years...

4 ( +5 / -1 )

i can understand stealing dirty underwear if you are a little bit alternative, but clean underwear?

Hope that by 'dirty' you mean 'worn' undies ;) although am pretty sure there are some blokes out there who prefer 'dirty' to worn panties!

2 ( +4 / -2 )

@ Dango bongToday  11:49 am JST

Still a perv though, but a harmless one

I see you reasoning, however a friends wife has lost underwear off their balcony & at the laundry.

Shes been concerned that shes being watched for many yrs. Harmless depends on your position.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Why was he able to do it for so long without being caught? Probably because he and the likes of him are not considered an imminent threat to the security of both the socium and the nation. If I could choose between having a bona-fine criminal an a society full of people with such mental deviations yet functioning as a proper human being otherwise, I , though unwilling to choose, would have chosen the latter.

I guess when you follow the world escalate further and futher, having such news fill the crime section can actually be considered fortunate...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

he needed the undies for his silicone doll.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

btw, we dont know that he isnt actually assaulting women or young girls.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Were they big cotton bloomers , I would imagine they would be more comfortable driving around in his truck. My boxers sometimes get my junk in a bit of a twist driving long distance. A g-string driver would be a complete menace and a danger to public safety .

0 ( +0 / -0 )

As far as I can say some females he had stolen the goods OVER 20 YEARS could have given him some themselves, out of many factors, be it fear, feeling of pity or because it's nothing that bad to worry about if some old man is satisfied with... well. He is not, per se, a criminal. He sure needs help though.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Yes. When you're accused of a crime, double down and say you've done it several or thousands more times. Good job.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

If he ever stole my wife's underwear, he could at least claim he was looking for a parachute.

OMG! I'm dying over here!! (v

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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