crime

Elementary school teacher arrested for sexually molesting 4 girls

28 Comments

Police in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, have arrested a 32-year-old elementary school teacher on suspicion of sexually molesting four girls during at a nature study camp on the night of Sept 18 and early the next morning, Sankei Shimbun reported.

Police said Yu Ito, a teacher employed at a municipal elementary school in Amagasaki City, was arrested on Monday. He is accused of molesting the girls at the camp lodging facility in Kamichi while they were asleep. He was at the camp as a supervising teacher for the fifth-grade students. 

After the elementary school was notified of the complaints filed by the young victims, the staff immediately contacted police. Police said surveillance camera footage at the facility shows Ito roaming in front of the girls' rooms the night the incidents occurred.

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28 Comments
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This is not a rare incident! That is the problem! There is an unhealthy and perverted fascination with young girls among Japanese men.

10 ( +15 / -5 )

@umbrellaman

The facts show that white men have a major problem with pedophilia.

i am curious. Are these facts or contrived statistics? Because those are two different things.

i am not bashing Japan, but there is a huge difference between crimes that occur as well as crimes that are reported. Sexy with a minor has only been illegal here for just under 20 years. Does that really sound like the type of place that is safe for children? Possessing child pornography has only recently become illegal and droves of shops have been getting raided for it. They have magazines with magazines with elementary school and junior high school students in swimsuits and sexually suggestive poses. These are actual facts.

Another thing about laws here is if the parents go to the board of education and not the police, the teacher can resign and still keep their teaching license. Only simply to move on to another area to work. If the parents don’t go to the police then the school boards will see it as an internal matter and handle it that way.

10 ( +13 / -3 )

Its good that he's been caught and I hope the systems are in place to stop him working with children again.

If I may make an observation-based comment, I think the all-encompassing, almost 24/7 "world of their own" nature of Japanese schools can attract the wrong kind of people to teaching. Schools are a kind of Neverland with their own inner logic that does not necessarily match that of the grown-up outside world. They go way beyond somewhere kids go for learning and adults go to work. It is not healthy for teachers to not have a life outside the schools where they work. As often stated, it is not healthy for the kids either.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

umbrellaman - The facts show that white men have a major problem with pedophilia. 

The facts show? Which facts are you referring to? Do you actually have statistics to back up this ridiculous claim? Without them it is just racist malarkey.

however, the facts do show that Japan is still the world leader in distribution of child pornography and internet grooming of teenagers. These are facts you seem to be ignoring.

7 ( +11 / -4 )

Any bets as to whether this repugnant guy's living room is filled with manga and anime depicting the rape and molestation of schoolgirls

Blaming any and all media for the behavior of an individual isn’t so black and white.

Next we should be saying video games and movies cause people to turn into violent murderers.

4 ( +9 / -5 )

good catch! unfortunately its rare to see follow up on such cases and actual punishment.

hope they investigate other schools and universities for similar acts done by staff. some "professors" are also engaged in such things as I heard from a victim.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

We need full sex offender's lists. Mug shot, full name, school's name and home address and post them all over social media and in city halls and public transportation.

And firing such a “teacher” is not enough as mentioned his license will allow him to work with children again. There needs to be a database and a record of offenders’ names and faces.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

This is like a rampage. Nothing in this guy's character could be detected before? There are probably lots of criminal pervs who try to get away with stuff. This guy seems begging to get caught. I'm just curious what his past was and if anything previous was swept under the rug.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

The real problem is warning signs are so often ignored in Japan, I wouldn't be surprised if there has been a decade of suspicious behaviour (or full blown incidents) and the guy has just been transferred to different schools. There was a case in my prefecture where a teacher that placed hidden cameras in the girls toilets was apparently just transferred, (though the outcome was murky, possibly not to another school and perhaps more happened to him later out of the public eye, but that was where the local education board appeared to leave it, still not exactly a great warning to others).

This kind of thing needs to be taken far more seriously in Japan, it is treated as if a teacher slipped up in some kind of human way that anyone could, whereas the reality is paedophiles are special, dangerous class of psychopaths who at the very least can never be reformed to the point where they could be trusted to be unsupervised around children, so obviously cannot be teachers or involved in education. Children have to be put first and protected from any unnecessary risk.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

How, exactly, does one groom a teenager? They're pretty much able to figure out they're being manipulated.

Don't know many teenagers? Younger kids obey what their parents tell them. Teenagers rebel and start to act independently. Many have very poor relationships with their parents at this time. A smooth talking stranger can move in especially easily in cases like this. Agreeing with the kid that they are right and the parents are jerks. It goes from there. The teenagers are playing in an adult minefield, and they don't have the life experience to avoid manipulation.

All that said, I doubt that Japan leads the way in teenage grooming. I would want to see statistics that back that up.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Bugle Boy of Company B - How, exactly, does one groom a teenager? They're pretty much able to figure out they're being manipulated.

Don't get out much, do you? Perhaps, when you think of teenagers, you think of 17-19 year olds. Teenagers start at 13. You obviously have not been privy to the many cases of Japanese men grooming teenage girls and boys by getting them to send naked photos of themselves through nefarious social media and dating sites. Then, there are the really creepy ones who groom young girls and boys to get them to meet in love hotels for a bit 'splash for cash'. There was one case just within the last fortnight of a school principal and another man coaxing a 16 year old boy into a love hotel for 'splash for cash'. This kind of creepy internet grooming is rampant in Japan. The police in Australia pose as teenagers on social media sites to set up these goons, which carries a seven year prison term when caught.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

I regret to say that this is happening everywhere!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Very sick individual, should not be among young pupils.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Did he think 10, 11 year old girls were going to just keep their mouths shut??

What was he expecting - that one of them would wake, aroused? And that she would off to the woods for a little whoopie time before coming back to bed?

He should have stuck with his comics!

0 ( +5 / -5 )

What is with the blaming anime and manga around here. Blaming the media is for this as ridiculous as blaming “violent” video games everytime there’s a shooting...

0 ( +2 / -2 )

What is with the blaming anime and manga around here. Blaming the media is for this as ridiculous as blaming “violent” video games everytime there’s a shooting...

Some people just look for any excuse to ban things they personally dislike. Exponentially more crimes have been inspired by the Bible and the Koran than by all the video games and porn in the world, yet I have never heard anyone suggesting we ban those books.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

They need to start putting these fools on blast.

We need full sex offender's lists. Mug shot, full name, school's name and home address and post them all over social media and in city halls and public transportation.

This will definitely help end such heinous acts.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

The common exchange

A: Japan has a serious problem.

B: Look at your country; yours is way more serious. Who the fork do you think you are criticizing? It’s not just Japan!

The rare exchange

A: Japan has a serious problem. This is also a big problem in my country.

B: Yes, what can be done? What is your country doing about it.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

The age of the victims are not revealed. 6-12?

The article says they are "fifth grade students". Is that clear enough for you?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

The common exchange

A: Japan has a serious problem.

B: Look at your country; yours is way more serious. Who the fork do you think you are criticizing? It’s not just Japan!

No, the common exchange is:

B: Some did bad thing X here. (Which happens is every country.)

A: Japan has a serious problem doing bad things X! There's something wrong with that country!

But in the spirit of cooperation. What is your country doing about this issue? Please first tell me what country you are from, how bad the issue is there compared to Japan (not opinion, but verifiable facts please). And what is your country doing about these cases. And how successful has that been?

I know the UK has a sex offenders database. But I am far more worried about my kids in the UK than I am in Japan.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Any bets as to whether this repugnant guy's living room is filled with manga and anime depicting the rape and molestation of schoolgirls?

And the Jaoanese scratch their heads in befuddlement as to why women and young females are preyed upon.

-2 ( +10 / -12 )

Any bets as to whether this repugnant guy's living room is filled with manga and anime depicting the rape and molestation of schoolgirls?

first off, very very few manga, if any, depict the rape of schoolgirls.

second,  by your standard, all men who play violent video games become mass shooters. that's illogical and not supported by any facts.

-2 ( +7 / -9 )

Any bets as to whether this repugnant guy's living room is filled with manga and anime depicting the rape and molestation of schoolgirls?

And the Jaoanese scratch their heads in befuddlement as to why women and young females are preyed upon.

Yes, because Western nations have completely eradicated this crime. There are no pedo groups, no Hollywood producers raping boys, no pedo islands....

It's just Japan, right?

-2 ( +7 / -9 )

Yes, because Western nations have completely eradicated this crime. There are no pedo groups, no Hollywood producers raping boys, no pedo islands....

It's just Japan, right?

I don’t think we should discuss how to reduce or solve crimes of this nature. The most important point is to compare which country has a more serious problem.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Actually ChipStar, I would say that Japan may be the safest place in the world for children. The facts show that white men have a major problem with pedophilia. Do not throw stones in a glass house.

-6 ( +13 / -19 )

however, the facts do show that Japan is still the world leader in distribution of child pornography and internet grooming of teenagers. These are facts you seem to be ignoring.

How, exactly, does one groom a teenager? They're pretty much able to figure out they're being manipulated.

-6 ( +1 / -7 )

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