crime

Teacher arrested for molesting woman on train

40 Comments

Police said Friday they have arrested a 28-year-old high school teacher from Sagamihara in Kanagawa Prefecture, for allegedly molesting a woman on a train. According to a report on TV Asahi, the incident occurred at around 4:30 p.m. on Thursday on an Odakyu Line train traveling between Zama and Ebina Stations. The teacher, 28, is alleged to have fondled the breasts of a 30-year-old temporary worker while she was sleeping.

Police said that the suspect disembarked at Ebina Station, at which point the victim called for help. Some bystanders detained the man until police arrived.

The Kanagawa Board of Education released a statement to the media saying that after confirming the charges, they will deal strictly with the accused.

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40 Comments
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@ ElBudaMexicano: Ok these are old news; you were Densha otoko this time ;)

¡Bien hecho camarada!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Writers, editors and publishers here need a serious make over with their text usage!! Alleged... Ha! what a joke! I'm no expert, but these people get paid so they have no excuses!!

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Lol, thank you Fadamor for clearing it out for me. Lol

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"allegedly molesting a woman" "is alleged to have fondled the breasts" What does this "alleged" mean? You either do it or not. Molesting is not a thing that needs profound investigation.

"alleged" means that someone has made an accusation of a crime by someone else, but it hasn't necessarily been proven yet. You will see it often in newspaper reports when someone gets accused and their name is printed in the paper. It covers the newspaper's butt from lawsuits because they are only pointing out an accusation has been made. Once (if) the suspect confesses or is convicted, then they will drop the use of "alleged".

It's fairly obvious she woke up as the molestation was in progress. Based on the article, it's pretty obvious that she left the train and called for police on the platform as the man was trying to leave the platform.

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I think person arrested for molesting sleeping woman on train is a better headline. The fact that his is a teacher isn't relevant to me. Teachers are no better than any other member of society, so stop making it out to be so amazing.

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"allegedly molesting a woman" "is alleged to have fondled the breasts" What does this "alleged" mean? You either do it or not. Molesting is not a thing that needs profound investigation.

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AsagaoAug. 13, 2011 - 10:39AM JST

As much as I praise the humility of that post, I don't think there is any evidence to suggest any woman, or man for that matter, is more likely to be able to deal with it psychologically simply because of age. In fact, there is a good argument that children would be the least affected for not even having a concept of what is happening, a teen would be most affected for having the concept but potentially having an over-wrought sense of the context (taking on more shame than would be usual) and adults would be second for having the concept but experience and the numbing of age downplaying the emotion.

Of course all that is generalization and does not account for individuals. Age is just not very useful for trying to measure the severity of the crime. In a perfect world, the psychological damage of the victim would play a role in sentencing (but not guilt), but we cannot accurately measure that.

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It's true enough that there are numerous sexual perverts who board the trains and subways everyday. However, let's not automatically condemn every man (and on rare ocassions a woman) who gets accused of train-groping. There have been cases where two (or more) of girls will accuse a perfectly innocent man of groping. One plays the victim and the other plays the witness. The goal being, of course, none other than extortion. "Pay up, mister, or we'll call the police!"

This also reminds me of a sign I've seen on a train. I'm sure what I'm thinking is what it was meant to convey (but I'm not 100% because my ability to read Japanese is next to nothing). The text and images pretty much boiled down to "Keep your hands busy." -- and not in the chikan way! :)p

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Men are basically "wired" with the sex switch in the "always on" position. The difference between these molesters and other men is that the molesters never learned to control their urges. There is a time and a place for that kind of activity, but on in a crowd, on a train, and with a stranger is NOT the time or the place 99.99% of the time. Are you REALLY feeling that lucky that you think you'd found someone who wouldn't mind? It's like playing Russian Roulette with 5 of the 6 chambers loaded.

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I'm certain he will do the old "I can't remember touching anything...I drank 1 or 2 glasses of shochu (in the afternoon)...but it must be a mistake...". The old salaryman/police officer fallback. He's a teacher? I hope he never works again.

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Well done hermano, at least you did something about it! I hate people just enjoying the spectacle and do nothing about it.

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This is really bad, stupid Japanese perverts do this kind of thing because they KNOW THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH IT, Japanese girls are usually too scared to protect themselves from these hentais. The other day, a beautiful young university age girl was standing in front of me, smiling at me, I was happy, until her facial expression turned to a surprised one, then I noticed this young dork was behind her, goosing her with his newspaper, it was a rainy day, and I shoved my umbrella right up his ass, with the pointy metal part, on these cheap 100 yen kind of umbrellas, right up his ass, he let out a scream, like a little punk, gave him a look, Im gonna kill you, and some how this little Japanese punk just ran away for his life, I an no big Black African dude from Roppongi, but this little Mexican is not gonna just stand there and watch perverts get away with this. The poor Japanese girl bowed saying arigatou gozaimasu like 10 times, I just said Ki wo tsukete ne! Be careful or be more careful from these scum on trains etc...Many sick, twisted, unhappy men in Japan, more ladies need to take KARATE etc...lessons, one good kick in the nuts, sayonara!

4 ( +5 / -1 )

I just arrived in Japan yet I have been hearing about guys feeling women up on trains since 2004. Maybe it's because of those magazines in 7-11 and so forth. All of a sudden, a nasty magizine reader is on a train with no magazines yet a bunch of women. Meanwhile, the train is not moving fast enough so that he can get to the magazines. He notices a sleeper. (#I'm simply trying to get to the bottom of this.)

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Are there HD security cameras in the trains? There should be.

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There's got to be some real haters on here if people are clicking 'bad' on people's comments about personally being molested! Molestation is just wrong, plain and simple, and I'm glad in this case the woman spoke out and the man was caught. I'd like to personally approach the man and ask him if it was worth it.

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Stay on topic please.

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I was felt up by some creep last night in Roppongi, just walking along the street! It just came from nowhere and suddenly I felt this hand on me. I screamed at him to get his hands off but he just laughed and walked off. I was furious!

Then a HUGE African-origin guy stepped in and said "Did he touch you?" I said yes, and the guy chased after him. You have never seen anyone move so fast! The creep was off like a rat up a drainpipe! Those big bouncer guys always look really scary to me but he was a total sweetheart and made sure I was ok (which I was). My point is - again - he just thought he could get away with it. Even laughed when I confronted him. But I sure had the last laugh, watching him leg it with a big black guy on his tail! Guy on the street who helped me last night - if you are reading this - BIG thank you!

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molesting people on the buss is for animes's only.. not real life. you shouldnt never molest anyone.. you know unless she wants it...

But it seems its always the educators or pollititions or inbetween that think they can molest girls and get away with it.. sad day indeed where you cant just sit down on a train, catch a few Z's... wake up and have some creeper touching your breasts.. -w- i would have kicked him in his nonexistent balls..

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So let me get this straight: he was on a train, with other people around, the woman was sleeping, he allegedly fondled her breasts, yet no-one stopped him or said anything, he gets off the train, she accuses him of fondling her breasts, and several passengers THEN apprehend him.

I'm not buying it.

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I myself have chased after (unsuccessfully) heat-crazed salary men who decided to use a packed Inokashira Line train to brazenly fondle my chest on their way out the door. I really do think the summer heat, and the fact that women wear less clothing on hotter days, drives men to do stupid things here. The few incidents I've had have all been during the summer. Not like it matters though - gropers are not welcome ANY time of year in my book.

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Look... I can totally understand how you might size a person up, so to speak, or be excited by what you see, but I really can't get the whole groping thing... and when the person is asleep?? You must truly be a sad person to get your jollies from touching a young woman (or man for that matter) asleep. Good on the woman for reporting it, and I hope the man is duly punished.

My guess is they'll reach a compensation agreement -- he'll award her 500,000 en and she'll not file charges, and he'll have his teacher's license repealed.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

this dude must be pretty brave to be fondling this girl's breasts in the middle of the train.

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I doubt very much he will be dealt with properly by law either

If found guilty, his sentence might be comparatively lenient, but the chances are he has ruined his life. Imagine your family, friends and coworkers knowing you had committed such a crime. He'll almost certainly lose his job and as a convicted sex offender will likely find it awfully difficult to find another good one.

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There is no excuse for such behavior, taking advantage of women is just wrong and blame shifting is cowardly racism, shame on you above posters for marginalizing this attacked woman.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Yet again, everybody else in the train was just watching...

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" teacher, 28, is alleged to have fondled the breasts of a 30-year-old temporary worker while she was sleeping ".......................................................

did she wake up during the " attack " ?

" the suspect disembarked at Ebina Station, at which point the victim called for help."...............................................

why wait till he's " done " before raising a fuss ?

Strange behavior to say the least.

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Its like every other day its either a teacher or a police officer.

Relax, trust me, it happens countless times every day, committed by no doubt a wide range of individuals. The ones that make the news however, are the few committed by people we (or Japanese) prop up as pillars of society - teachers, cops and public servants. The rest you will never hear about.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

saying that after confirming the charges, they will deal strictly with the accused.

With the accused? So it is not yet sure yet he did it and he is not a culprit. I can imagine both, he might be a pervert or as often happens a victim of false accusation.

I'm normally not very interested in these news but it would be nice if the press could fallow it all the way down and give us a few words of what really happened.

Anyway, it's a mess.

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@Miamum

I actually find Japanese men in general (my attacker obviously excluded) far more respectful than their western counterparts - maybe because I am foreign and they wouldnt dare try??!

Haha Exactly!! ^_~

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Aside from the horribleness and creepiness of these crimes (and I have been a victim myself so I understand first-hand the trauma it can cause) one thing that always surprises me: why take the risk in the first place? These are often well-educated, professional men, often with families. Why risk everything when there are a plethora of places around especially in Tokyo, offering those kinds of kicks without fear of arrest? Why go for an innocent woman? Is it a power thing? The thrill of it? Did he seriously think he wasnt going to be caught, in broad daylight in front of witnesses? It is almost like he wanted to be caught. I just dont understand.

And yes, Ari94, you make a very good point. I think these crimes seem to happen more in Japan, maybe because the men think they can get away with it. I doubt very much he will be dealt with properly by law either. If every woman was likely to stomp on them maybe they would think twice. But it certainly doesnt represent the whole country and most Japanese are outraged by it. I think this makes them feel the same way that we Brits do when we see the kids rioting on the streets - this is not representative of our country. I actually find Japanese men in general (my attacker obviously excluded) far more respectful than their western counterparts - maybe because I am foreign and they wouldnt dare try??!

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Japan is a very nice country and also Japanese. These kind of news does not represent majority. What this teacher did is not not good. He will be dealth properly according to law I guess.

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This teacher is alleged to have done this. Innocent before guilty ... is this not a common trait? By the way, what is a high school teacher doing on a train at 430PM? Teachers should be still be in school and or club activities. I'm more surprised about that.

I agree the act is disgusting and perverted but this person hasn't been convicted, yet. After he is, then let's bash'em - starting with the fingers.

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Where is Densha Otoko when you need him? I hear these sort of news constantly, it has to do with how most Japanese women react to creeps like these. In another country, lets say Peru, this guy would have been knocked out by his victim in a heart beat!

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High hormones ! I like to look but the touching part, destroys the beauty.

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this is getting crazy. Its like every other day its either a teacher or a police officer. Why dont he just do the same thing that his peers probably do, go to a conveni and spend hours looking over the porn mags which are readily available and widely accepted as normal.

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You are right oracle, I should choose better words. I meant that there has been too many of these despicable crimes, and that some young people are likely to be more psychologically scared than a mature adult, who although still damaged, is more likely to understand what happened and to have methods to deal with it, if they have support. Children are not as well adapted. Weather it was a child or adult, this is totally unacceptable and such incidents leave a badly damaged victim.

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AsagaoAug. 13, 2011 - 08:05AM JST

It is welcome news that at least it wasn't a young girl.

There is nothing welcome about this news. No one should be sexually molested by strangers as they sleep and age has nothing to do with that.

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And wasn't it just yesterday that a Yokohama high school teacher was arrested for exposing his "lower half" in broad daylight on the streets of the city?? "I like being looked at," he said, in a remarkably straightforward admission.

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It is welcome news that at least it wasn't a young girl. These cases should be highlighted more in the press to scare these perverts.

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Whom can you trust if you can't trust a teacher? Hope they throw the book at him.

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