crime

Teacher arrested for taking photos of girls in toilet

52 Comments

A junior high school teacher, who was arrested once before for taking photos of girls in a school toilet, has been detained a second time.

According to police, the suspect, identified as Takayuki Suzuki, teaches at a school in Shimizu, Shizuoka Prefecture. TBS reported Tuesday that Suzuki was arrested and charged with possession and production of child pornography.

Police said that on July 17, Suzuki set up a small video camera in a girl's restroom at the school. Two students spotted the camera and reported it to the principal.

Police said Suzuki has confessed to the charge and confiscated from his house a large collection of videos of girls in the toilet that appear to have also been taken at the school.

Suzuki was arrested for a similar offense two years ago but got a suspended sentence, local media reported.

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52 Comments
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Enough of these perverts already! Every week a new a-hole caught. Imagine how many are not caught.

6 ( +6 / -1 )

Wait a minute. This guy was convicted of a sex crime, and was still allowed to work with kids???

Speechless!

33 ( +32 / -3 )

Seems like its not a serious crime in Japan. Bad enough adult victims, but children! Snip him.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

It just boggles the mind how lenient the law is towards sex offenders, and how forgiving employers are, particular those employers who pay this man to teach the very class of individuals he victimizes. It's one thing to hire a sex offender as a truck driver but as a schoolteacher? I'm sure everyone involved in slapping his wrist for the first offense is shocked, just shocked he did it again!

5 ( +6 / -1 )

News like this upsets me! This is his second offense?! Insane!!! Is he going to get suspended again? I tell you, this is Japan's police work at its finest - they always wait for someone to get hurt or killed to take real action. Disgusting!!

8 ( +8 / -3 )

A teacher gets caught making videos of girls and is allowed to continue teaching? He is not the only one that needs to lose his job.

17 ( +14 / -0 )

"It just boggles the mind how lenient the law is towards sex offenders, and how forgiving employers are, particular those employers who pay this man to teach the very class of individuals he victimizes." If an other than Japanese did this they would never got a second chance and would have got the book thrown at them.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Wolfpack - exactly. I am wondering if he did the same thing at the same school. If he did, then the school is whack and the principal needs to get fired. If he did it at a different school, he obviously didn't write it down on his resume. The schools here don't do background checks like the in the states or elsewhere. Why do I have a feeling he won't do any jail time?

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Suzuki was arrested for a similar offense two years ago but got a suspended sentence

And he is still teaching..... the mind boggles

5 ( +5 / -0 )

I sometimes wonder that maybe some become teachers just for this type of purpose.

4 ( +4 / -1 )

Careful , this is not sexcrime. Just voyeurism. Indeed he did not learn his lesson. But it is so easy these days. He will continue elsewhere. Hundreds of people like those in the wild, can't stop it. Be careful only.

The fact that some closed thrir eyes is serious hit to confixence in the school system. Poor Japan.

-4 ( +3 / -6 )

Arrested previously for the same offence and allowed to continue teaching...Unbelievable.

10 ( +9 / -0 )

Well,isn't that just dandy? He was busted previously for child sex offences, given a slap on the wrist and then allowed to go back into a situation with kids and he has repeat offended. I'm wondering if he will go to jail this time.

There is a perverted sickness in Japanese society. This unhealthy infatuation with young girls has been going on for generations. Most people think it is a new phenomenon, but if you have a look on YouTube you can find many music videos from the 70's and 80's depicting young girls prancing around in school uniforms and gym wear. It is not normal! It is sick!

1 ( +6 / -5 )

Once a pervert, will always be a pervert.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

God comments. realize magnitude of this..scarred 4 life these kids...if u have kids here going 2 school u should b concerned..not only school, they lurking everywhere. Might b ur neighbor, co-worker, or d local guy n uniform who checks ur ID from time 2 time, u should know who I speak of..if they did not wasting time, doing that, they would catch. You trying doing, u won t c the light of day 4 awhile, of course, you not gonna do this..

Only urge others 2 seek help..this story goes beyond, him..remember, the guy has a family, who are suffering, because of actions.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

A junior high school teacher, who was arrested once before for taking photos of girls in a school toilet, has been detained a second time.

And it was just yesterday that we read in JT a story about a mother who murdered her child, after having been given a suspended sentence several years earlier for murdering another one of her children (http://www.japantoday.com/category/crime/view/3-year-old-boy-dies-after-being-thrown-against-wall-by-mother#comment_1841006).

It seems this country is lenient when it comes to any form of violence or perversion against children committed by an adult in a position of authority. Japan has a poor track record when it comes to children's rights.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

Careful , this is not sexcrime. Just voyeurism.

Same difference.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Twice! But this isn't a 3-strikes-yer-out thing. Social justice? Japan? This is a bad example! Bad, bad! Pity the children in his classes, not just the victim, although the victim had courage to report. Where is vengeance when it's needed? Legal vengeance, of course.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

If this man was found guilty of the same offense two years ago (and given a suspended sentence), this would obviously make him a convicted sex offender. Japan's education ministry undoubtedly knew of his criminal record, yet allowed him to remain in the classroom. (Maybe the teachers union makes it impossible to fire these sorts of teachers once they are employed and in the union.)

This then begs the question — how many other convicted sex offenders are currently in Japan's classrooms? I'm sure the education ministry knows the number, but would never release those figures.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

It's a sad state when a nation not only fails to punish someone who takes advantage of his or her position of power to abuse his or her charges, but allows it to happen again and again. My guess is AT WORST the guy will have his teacher's license revoked, but will not see any jail time. Probably another suspended sentence in a nation that does not seriously punish sexual offenders, and worse yet seems to celebrate them at times (protecting the right to 'free speech' with kiddy-porn and rape in comics, as just one example).

You often hear people whining about the 'quality' of teachers here and the hiring system, but it seems if they are truly concerned then no one is really looking into the actual qualifications or things that actually make a quality teacher, and instead allow criminals.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

How could he keep his job after the first conviction? Unbelievable.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Suzuki was arrested for a similar offense two years ago but got a suspended sentence

So even if this was the case why was he allowed to go back teaching, something very very wrong here.

Pedophiles usually try to get jobs where they can practise their deed, teachers, councilors , preachers, scout leaders, etc all these nasty creeps need to be screened thoroughly before being employed in these jobs, and any previous dirty deeds means they do not get a second chance to work with kids, WTF is wrong with the system and WTF is wrong with these creeps.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Some information about Suzuki would give us a better picture of his character. How old was he? Was he married wit children? Did he have a girlfriend? His former arrest and his being allowed to return to work at a school for a sex crime is important information. For example, if he was a guy who had trouble meeting women and got his kicks with porno, etc. there may be many like him out there working with kids who need to be separated from working with kids. Better evaluation is one answer.

0 ( +3 / -2 )

@Tessa yeah, that suspended sentence really showed him the error of his ways.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Let us/society punish Suzuki and the administration that protected him; find out what school he taught at, find out the names of the principal, vice principal and school board officials and flood social media with this information. I guarantee you that this school is hoping this blows over and things can get back to normal. Not this time. The students and parents at this school have a right to know about Suzuki and have a thorough investigation to ensure that there are no other sexual predators employeed. We will continue to read mind-boggling stories about repeat offenders (last week it was a cop caught filming up a women's skirt on a train for the second time) until society begins taking effective albeit nonviolent action.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Ms. AlexanderSep. 03, 2014 - 07:50AM JST The schools here don't do background checks like the in the states or elsewhere. Why do I have a feeling he won't do any jail time?

They do.

cuz obviously he is somebody's relative, son, brother or friend. It's a common thing in Jp.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

0 ( +1 / -1 )

It's a different mine set here in Japan. In the USA he would have been put on a sex offender's register and never again be allowed to work as a school teacher.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I think the bigger picture here is that this story is a reflection of Japan still treating women(and yes, girls) as second class citizens.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Seriously? Why does it seem that there are so many hentai people with this particularly unsavory hobby these days? Especially when you consider all the Japanese specific porn sites available on the internet! Come on people the toilet is the last bastion of privacy we have!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@Sensato. Thank you for the link.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Maybe he's just curious! Everybody has a hobby! I like to see how far I can spit! I don't mean anything by it... no disrespect intended! but I'm especially good at expectorating!

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Here are my 2 questions.

One, why isn't the name on the article? Because s/he is a teacher that's supposed to be sacred? Two, why are only the articles like this of teachers seen on news? Trust me, there are more people who've done this, whose jobs aren't teaching out there.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

The principal should get the axe too, for not firing this pervert after his first conviction.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Convicted pedophile gets a second chance teaching kids. *starts slow sarcastic clap for the Japanese legal and educational system. Morons.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Because getting a teaching license is such a big deal here they tend to take some time taking a license away, instead shuffling them around. Not saying that I agree, but this seems to be what happens. They seem to be trying to avoid taking someone's livelihood away from them. It's the same kind of 'amasa' that keeps them from taking elderly people's licenses away ("It's so final and severe").

The brass band teacher in my son's junior high was groping the girls, and the male gym teacher was making smarmy comments like 'You've really grown up'. They both got sent to God knows where. They flub up again though and that's it. I don't recall a teacher getting a third chance, after a transfer as a warning.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I hope that soon we will be reading less 'suspended sentence' repeat offenders

Does anyone know if this is Shimizu-ku or Shimizu-cho?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Does anyone know if this is Shimizu-ku or Shimizu-cho?

@justbcuzisay

The school is Shimizu Junior High School in Shimizu-cho (静岡県清水町立清水中学校), close to Mishima Station.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Ms. Alexander,

I tell you, this is Japan's police work at its finest - they always wait for someone to get hurt or killed to take real action. Disgusting!!

I understand how upsetting news like this is. It angers me as well. But why are you blaming the police? They have nothing whatsoever to do with the creation of laws. They only enforce them.

If you want to be disgusted with someone, be disgusted with Japanese society as a whole for not treating sexual predation as seriously as it should. It's society that makes the laws, not the police.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Suspended sentence for a similar offense and allowed to go back to work? REALLY? WTF!

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Sensato-thanks for the info. I have connections to both towns so I was curious.

I will see if I can get the citizens of Shimizu-cho to get enraged and protest the system that put their children in a class with a known criminal. Ok, that probably won't happen but I will tell them they have a right to be angry!

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

That is an unpardonable horrible act by the culprit teacher! Students look up to teachers as mentors and have full faith in them for protection but incidents like this can frustrate and confuse students beyond description!

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Suspended sentence for a similar offense and allowed to go back to work? REALLY? WTF!

the Japanese education system doesn't cease to amaze me. don't they have a register of sex offenders like the UK????

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Hi Swami Vas, Just so you know, students and especially parents do not look up to teachers..... I spent almost ten years in the Japanese education system, and the stories I could tell you would blow your mind. Why do you think parents invest so much time and money in JUKU and other learning centres? Everyday we hear about teachers doing stupid things that degrade their profession even further. But I guess, if you work six or seven days a week, we can't really be surprised! It just seems like the heads of the BOE's are not getting the message, or they're just hoping it'll go away.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

An active pedofile, already punished with the heinous penalty of a suspended sentence, goes back to work in a target rich environment. And the authorities obviously have no problem with this? Got to wonder about the authorities, a pedofilic network? Protecting their own? The Catholic Church protected their own, starting to wonder about the seemingly untouchable Japanese Teaching Licence.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Charges and sentences on endangering the welfare of a minor or child need a complete make over in this country. The children must be protected at all cost.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The children must be protected at all cost.

No, not at "all" cost. That's the opposite end of the pendulum's swing, where draconian measures overwhelm common sense. Children need protection, but not to the degree that some countries, like the U.S. have applied laws designed to protect children from sexual predators. Teens swapping naked selfies lands them on a sex offenders registry? I don't think so. That's just one example of common sense tossed out the window in order to protect children "at all cost."

2 ( +2 / -0 )

How did he keep his job, you wonder. Obviously he knelt on the floor in front of kouchou sensei and yelled,

"MOUSHIWAKE ARIMASEN!"

What principal in Japan could not accept this apology and allow the paedo to retain his job working with children?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

News like this upsets me! This is his second offense?! Insane!!! Is he going to get suspended again? I tell you, this is Japan's police work at its finest - they always wait for someone to get hurt or killed to take real action. Disgusting!!

The police didn't give him the suspended sentence, the Courts did. A suspended sentence is not an "innocent" verdict. It's a "you're guilty but we're not going to put you in prison as long as you keep your nose clean" verdict and sentence. Again, a suspended sentence means the man was found guilty of sex crimes.

The police didn't return the convicted sex offender to work in the school system, the school system did.

In fact, it appears that the only ones who actually DID their job was the police. If this case is an example of what happens after the police do THEIR job, is it any wonder that some JCops are asking themselves, "Why bother?"

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I say lock this lame-brained guy and have him registered in a List for Sexual Deviants and Offenders.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Put this repeated offender in Mental Health Institute for a month. He has mental health problem.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@fADAMOR: The police didn't give him the suspended sentence, the Courts did. A suspended sentence is not an "innocent" verdict. It's a "you're guilty but we're not going to put you in prison as long as you keep your nose clean" verdict and sentence. Again, a suspended sentence means the man was found guilty of sex crimes.

The police didn't return the convicted sex offender to work in the school system, the school system did.

In fact, it appears that the only ones who actually DID their job was the police.

If this case is an example of what happens after the police do THEIR job, is it any wonder that some JCops are asking themselves, "Why bother?"

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Excellent analysis.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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