Sleazy English sensei avoided suspicion for years

As far as I'm aware, there are no background checks done on people who work with children. Not saying this would have prevented this case, but isn't it the least that should be done to have some basic form of protection for children?

As a parent, I always ask questions about the people who are going to be in contact with my children. What's happening with the parents in this case? Don't they know their children? If there has been abuse, their children may be crying out for help... so has there been a break down in communication? There's definitely more to this story.

If he is guilty, obviously he should be dealt with by the 'system' and never see another free day again...don't know if this will happen here in Japan.

According to police, the man had admitted to the allegations, but justified his action by saying he had done it “so that the girls would have a better sex life in the future.”

If that statement is true, please lock him up and throw away the key. As a man, I see he is a sick individual that pray on young innocent females. This is a man that is lonely because his peers have had rejected him for some reasons and now he is taking it out on innocent young females that doesn't know him too well.

Why was the man's name omitted in the Japanese media? Certainly, it was not because he was underage.

This guy is an abusive pervert who took advantage of children. He should be punished as such regardless of his race, creed or country of origin if he is proven guilty.

This man needs to be castrated asap, plus a life sentence for each child he abused. I am very sorry for the children and parents who trusted this pervert.

Another damaging insult to all hard working english teachers in Japan.

I agree with you "whiskeysour", this guy is sick to the core. He should be given a life sentence with no parole. And never be allowed to get anywhere near a child again.

According to police, the man had admitted to the allegations, but justified his action by saying he had done it “so that the girls would have a better sex life in the future.”

EWWWWWWWWWW! Those poor girls.

How could the cops and the judicial system been so lenient on this guy and let him go knowingly he is a pedophile?! 600 videos, i would hate to think how many young girls lives he has ruined.. it sounds like this sicko took a girl home with him every day after work...surely they would have had enough sense that something was fishy!!

There's probably a lot of ppl like this guy.

The only thing to do is be watchful if you have kids/ are responsible for kids in any way.

Then in 2008, police obtained testimony from a victim that allegedly took place while she was between the ages of 9 to 11. Yet inexplicably, the man was not detained until this January, when he was arrested on suspicion of violating the child welfare law.

Testimony is neither a complaint nor proof of wrong-doing. My understanding is that every year elementary school kids receive a physical that includes a finger in the rectum. Apparently its done for a medical reason. Testimony about it would not make it a crime, necessarily.

I do not know what he did, what he taught, or why, but I am not going to jump to conclusions based on slim details and primitive taboos. It seems there are lots of children and also parents involved in this, and the ultimate proof will be seeing how everyone turns out, not in simply determining his motives and condeming him if we find the teensiest bit of a selfish one. If his main motive was to help, and he truly believed that himself, we have to find out if he actually did. Anything else is to rely on conventional wisdom, something we so often find to be just plain wrong.

'Sleazy'? Is that the best word the writer could come up with? How about 'sicko sexual predator'?

HeyLars: I have no idea what you are talking about. He allegedly sexually abused several dozen young females. What does it even really matter what his motives were? Either A. he is mentally competent pedophile or B. an insane pedophile

When suspicions arose in 2006, did the police bother to question the female students he was teaching? And in 2008, after obtaining testimony from a victim, did they then interview other female students and their parents?

I'm shocked that people watched this guy drive home with young girls day after day and yet alarm bells didn't go off for the parents and they still let their daughters be taught by him. I mean, in a community I would imagine there would have been mothers sharing stories and rumors...Why did it take so long to get this guy? Thank goodness he is off the streets now.

Heylars whilst I applaud you for wanting to remain impartial with lack of firsthand knowledge and not wanting to jump on a bandwagon, if it is true that he threatened the kids not to tell or it would create problems for their parents and him, it does not sound like he was helping the kids out very much.

Lowly, has it created problems for the parents? How about the kids? What I heard was he said they could all get arrested. While not entirely true I bet they all feel like they have been arrested what with police visits, questioning, and neighbors asking questions. I have little doubt his motive was CYA, but its not like he was going to get extra credit for using the arrest line rather than the "I will kill you" line, is it? You should think carefully about what you decide to be so sensitive about, because dude, it really could have been worse.

dolphingirl, so much for innocent until proven guilty, eh? You don't even know exactly what happened yet. It matters what his motives were because his motives are one of the things that determine if sex abuse happened. What he did may have been a crime (don't know that either), but that DOES NOT make it sex abuse. There are people knocking on doors right now saying "Hi, I am X, and I am a pedophile." but they didn't abuse anyone. What they did was have sex with someone underage who might now be their wife or husband! And this guy is not even accused of actually having sex!

"underage" and "prepubescent" are not the same. someone who is 17, 16, even 15 going out with a legal adult is different than like 9, don't you think?

But I agree trial by media and public opinion is unfortunate, and even when the crime is real likely to be both painful and possibly unhelpful for the victim as well.

What I can`t understand in all this was that the kids parents - and at elementary school age they were definitely "kids" - allowed them to go to this mans house unaccompanied.

I am NOT suggesting that all English teachers teaching at home are dangerous before anyone jumps on me - far from it! I teach at home myself and have had kids here unaccompanied many times.

But as a parent of an elementary school age daughter, I wouldnt let my daughter just go to some guys house who I dont know on her own. I would want to check out this person first and make sure everything was OK. It doesn`t sound like much of a check was done on this guy by anyone, and that is how he has managed to get away with it for so long.

Its a tricky one - how do you know if someone is OK or not? The parents of my former students all trusted me because I was female and a Mum. But even that doesnt necessarily mean anything does it? There are some real weirdos out there. And conversely, how do you prove to people as a professional teacher that you are reliable and trustworthy?

The other poster had it right that even with police checks this kind of thing isn`t necessarily prevented. There have been several incidents in the UK (sorry mods but I am just saying this to make the point) where people have passed police checks only to be found to be abusing children.

So as a parent, and as a teacher - what do you do?

"...because I WAS female and a Mum"???! Sorry - would just like to point out that I still am!!! Haven`t slept in months.....;)

kirakira25, my understanding is that he often took girls home that he met on the street. Naturally, they got home safe. He seemed nice I guess. He earned the trust of the kids, and when they got home safe, he earned the trust of the parents. In other cases, he met the parents first, surely. And as all the kids got home "safe", he must have earned a reputation.

Of course, one could choose to freak out every time if one found a child went to a stranger's house, and in this case it might have been warranted, maybe. One could choose to be so paranoid that there is no way a strange man could ever get take your kid home. And that would necessarily entail a lot of men getting falsely accussed. But Japan is not such a place. There are places like that and they are creepy. As creepy as you might think this guy is, living in a community of paranoid jumpy people is even more creepy in my opinion.

However objectional you may find what he did (whatever that was) you cannot deny that it looks like he did it over and over and no child is dead. In fact, I still have not seen any clear proof that any children were upset. Surely if even a quarter of these several dozen young girls were distraught he could not have gone on like this for 10 years!

So you have to make a value judgement. I would rather not live in the freakishly paranoid environment that would have gottent his guy investigated instantly, because in such places, even if this guy did the worst that is possible given the evidence and allegations, people who would have been just like him are actually far more dangerous and far worse for the kids in the end, or so I think. I don't need or want any names, but I would like know how everyone is feeling about this and what went on, because its just too easy to falsely imagine the worst and make a situation that is bad enough into one that is a nightmare in doing so. I had various sexual experiences as a child and the only ones I felt bad about were the ones that everyone found out about. Nobody likes to have their sexual experiences aired, not even kids. It has been suggested that that is the larger trauma, so you have to make that value judgement.

HeyLars: He admitted to sexual assault on one girl and to violating child prostitution and pornography laws.

dolphingirl, whatever that means. Who says "yes, I committed sexual assault and violated child prostitution and pornography laws"?

I don't think so. What happened is that he said he did something and it was the police who decided to call it those things. A court will determine if he committed sexual assault or broke child prostitution and pornography laws. We cannot even begin to do that because we don't know what he did exactly. I think the charge to focus on here to make it all clear is the child prostitution allegation. I have not read one word about him paying for sexual favors. So where did that allegation come from?

No, he admitted doing something but I seriously doubt he said "Yeah, I broke this law and that law" and they sent him home twice!

This story stinks. "Kuchikomi" it is.

Believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see.

Do japanese people trust too much on everyone? I'd never let my daughter alone with someone just cuz "he is a teacher"...

HeyLars,

You were doing well up the the point you started talking about "primitive taboos". I'm just glad you're not a judge. While I'll wait and see if the man is guilty or not, of course, I live in hope that the presiding magistrate has conventional wisdom and is firmly bound by those taboos that protect our youth.

Sorry heyLars but if a man of his age tried to pick my elementary school age daughter up off the street and take her back to his house without my knowledge or permission - yes, I would freak out. Period. I make no apologies for that!

If being paranoid means there is no way a strange man could ever take my daughter home like this, I`ll take the paranoia accusation and be proud of it, thank you.

He did it over and over and no child is dead? Oh OK, that makes it alright then! (sarcasm) And after all, he was trying to help them have a better sex life in the future - so his heart was in the right place, heyLars?

You are right that we dont know exactly what he did or didnt do - but he`s obviously done something.

Yes, I agree with kira.

In a village or close neighborhood setting where everyone is raising each others kids, it's one thing. For one thing, they all know each other, so it's different. However kids going off with a complete stranger,, if the stranger didn't bring the kid straight home without going to their house or something first, would be scary I believe.

Sorry. The guy deserves whatever he gets.

I have posted before that preventing COMPROMISING SITUATIONS is what all teachers are obligated to do. If, on the zillion to one chance that all of those students who accuse him are just all coordinating a Salem witch trial, and he just happens to have the incriminating porn that he made, he still deserves punishment for being an idiot. "I am sorry your honor, I thought taking naked videos of kids was ok, because people in the US do it all the time." Keep the door open.

Kirakira should be able to feel safe with people if she exercises reasonable caution. You see, here, parents look stupid because the guy justified what he was doing. He lied to people... he probably accused the kids and the parents of having dirty minds while he was molesting kids for 300 months. Also, I have seen pics of his house. It looks kind of rural and secluded. I am sure people just assumed it was ok because X-san's kids were taught by him, etc. These are probably not sophisticated people.

Good on HeyLars for trying to be the advocate for this devil, but the guy is a creep and a stupid one. He should have insisted on someone else being present when he taught. He should not have asked them to take off clothes EVER. He should not have taken videos of them or watched them over and over. Mothers like kirakira should insist on having someone else present. If that is too inconvenient or too expensive, don't do it.

operation of equestrian classes

That settles it. They should shoot this scumbag and his horse!!

Speed I am not his advocate. I can't be because I don't know what he did. All I am an advocate for is an analyzing of the facts, of which we have next to none on which to judge.

We can judge him on the fact that he took kids home without parental permission. That is a problem and he should not have done that. However, they did get home safe and, apparently went again and again and with parental permission after. So while he was wrong and foolish for taking strange kids home regardless, the acid test of just how bad it was is what happened next, which we don't really know. I am just not jumping to conclusions.

soothsayer said: You were doing well up the the point you started talking about "primitive taboos".

Part of the primitive taboo equation is the limit on free speech about childhood sexual development and educational issues. We cannot discuss the topic frankly because there is indeed a primitive taboo where emotions run so high that science fact will be quashed and ignored. In fact, one of my posts was purged of mention of this. People may question this guy for not having a Ph.D. on the subject, but can you name me a respected Ph.D. in the field who is at least mostly free from random attacks and accusations? Freud? Nope. Kinsey? Certainly not. In short, there is no way this guy is going to get extra credit for anything. If he did anyone any good it will not be recognized. All that will be seen is the bad, even if its just imagined. This article is nothing but a bunch of signposts but we never arrive at a destination. The writer knows that primitive taboo will fill in the blanks. The fact is that what you learn in childhood will affect your whole life and that includes your sex life. Some think its best for children to learn nothing, but I disagree. So, there is room for me to believe this guy might not be a pure selfish sicko.

Absolutely disgusting. I hope this man is adminstered punishment fitting the abuse he visited on these girls. This world takes away their innocence too fast anyway. To pervert it to this level is beyond forgivable. He should be excised from the realm of the living.

SSGNash, thank you so much for proving my point. You don't know what he did but you go with your knee and label it abuse.

Taboos? Childhood sexual development should never involve a grown man. We are not talking teenagers like 17-19 or whatever the borderline is...we are talking kids with hardly a drop of hormones (in comparison to the older teens and adults). There should be no discussion of that among normal non professionals who study such things. Not some English teacher and not you..or me. Hmm now would I sound like a PED when I try to discuss that? Taboo or not? 9 year old pre pubescent girls? Now you tell me when that discussion is normal. Get a life.

I was 9 once and I liked to sneak a peak at sexual images and I grabbed myself. Still not something that should be a normal discussion outside of parents and professionals. Of course parents want to know about kids sexual feelings. But that is a discussion held with them..their kids..and their professionals. Anyone else putting their hand on them in order to elicit a sexual response from either party is abuse. Period. No matter what you say. It is at least abuse of power and abuse of the child's limited mind to choose correctly in the presence of an adult offering pleasure like candy and such. There, we discussed it. Mr taboo man.

The fact is that what you learn in childhood will affect your whole life and that includes your sex life. Some think its best for children to learn nothing, but I disagree. So, there is room for me to believe this guy might not be a pure selfish sicko.

Sounds like you are defending this old-man's behavior to give him some space for sympathy. Your first statement is questionable because the children at primary school are not mature enough to learn about the birds and bees. If you teach students about sexuality and sex education, you need to follow an appropriate procedure as a part of education at school- not outside the classroom! It is abuse, because the story clearly provides the context for this man's power to keep his interactions with students secret by taking advantage of his role as a teacher.

What is wrong with some of you people. It is obvious that he sexcually exploited these children and should be given the harshest sentence possible. If you dont believe this then i have to question your own morals.

amerijap, make up your mind. Either primary school children are not mature enough and should be totally in the dark or there should be such education at school. Which?

And amerijap, it was confirmed in another thread that the parents signed sex education consent forms so what was the secret? He was wrong to take strange kids home, but that was not kept secret either. The parents knew a lot it seems. I don't know exactly what they knew but they knew a lot.

There is a problem in Japan. They do not learn to have free thinking. The obedience to older people blinds them to do things they should not do.

HeyLars,

If you think taking a girl to his home and helping her have a better sex life when she's 9-11 years old is OK, you had better not come within a kilometer of my daughter. I don't care what slant you put on it, that's disgusting and reprehensible. There is a natural flow to how human beings develop. It does not involve grown men teaching 10 year olds how to have better sex lives. 10 year old girls should be focused on education, looking pretty, girl drama, and being a CHILD. I don't see how this disgusting excuse of a man could "help them have better sex lives" without committing some type of child abuse. Regardless, he has abused the trust of the parents and child who trusted him to teach them english! Not multiple orgasm techniques! How can you defend this fecal matter?!

SSGNash - spoken like a true parent who cares about their daughter.

It was not this guys place to teach young girls how to have a sex life and I find it VERY hard to believe that parents signed consent forms for their young daughters to receive sex education from an older male ENGLISH teacher privately in his home. If they were dumb enough to do that then quite frankly they are accessories to the crime as far as I am concerned.

If he was asking parents to sign these consent forms then how can anyone possibly say it could all be an overreaction and we don`t know exactly what was going on - obviously something was.

Please - any English teachers out there - correct me if I am wrong and let us all know if it is within your remit to teach sex-ed to 9 year olds. I certainly don`t consider it within mine. I DO however consider it within my remit as a mother.

can't believe anyone would even take the side of the perverted teacher, some of the usual post here take the side of foreigners over japanese, but this is ridiculous.

My understanding is that every year elementary school kids receive a >physical that includes a finger in the rectum.

Where do people on this site come up with this stuff?

All this mention of "people" supporting this freak. It is one person... not more than one. Read the poster's name people.

I think a lot of people are miss-reading lars, i didnt read his posts as supportive, he just said wait for the courts to decide, and dont condemn the guy from a kuchikomi JT article.

Either primary school children are not mature enough and should be totally in the dark or there should be such education at school. Which?

I don't understand your motives on this question.

And amerijap, it was confirmed in another thread that the parents signed sex education consent forms so what was the secret? He was wrong to take strange kids home, but that was not kept secret either. The parents knew a lot it seems. I don't know exactly what they knew but they knew a lot.

So, what's your bottom line?

Some people are defending this monster? O_o Oh God... I just hope I'll never see something like this happening in my family, if I had a daugther and someone do it I'd kill him without think twice... Just thinking about this topic makes me mad already... I can't believe some people defend this monster (I don't call this a human sorry)

Japanese have a perverse sense of respect for senseis.

To do anything else is clear evidence that the Japanese media is fanning the flames of xenophobia.

Frungy, I'm not the moderator, but if I were, I would explain to you that Kuchikomi is a department with contents excerpted from vernacular magazine stories. If the magazines are sold for one week, it would make sense that the translation is posted for the same duration.

Then in 2008, police obtained testimony from a victim that allegedly took place while she was between the ages of 9 to 11

So the cops don't even know how old she was when they took testimony from her in 2008? Weird.

Where do people on this site come up with this stuff?

If you were referring to my post, I was referring to the crazy "facts" about Japan that I see posted by various individuals as the 'truth' about Japan. I wonder where the hell they get their ideas.

I seriously cant believe all you people who are trying to justify this sicko. yeah, innocent until proven guilty...but cmon, they found evidence in his residents.

this guy is sick.

Sterilize and send him home and the FBI will pick him up when he lands.

bboy30 said: ..but cmon, they found evidence in his residents.

At his RESIDENCE, they found what? Please don't just say "video tapes". I think most everybody has a videotape or two at their RESIDENCE. What was on the tapes, EXACTLY. I will also add that it was reported that he confessed something, but we don't know what he confessed exactly. And that should explain why some of us are sticking with innocent until proven guilty, not that I really think he stands a snowball's chance in hell. But I still have a lot of unanswered questions, such as how much the parents knew and what they think about all this.

And I repeat, no one can justify what he did because we don't know what he did. Naturally, that won't stop some from condemning him without a trial though!

combinibento, To answer your question, it means that the events took place when she was 9, when she was 10, and when she was 11.

Japanese have a perverse sense of respect for senseis.

I disagree. Actually, the have a sense of respect which is occasionally abused by perverse sensei.

they, not the, sorry.

HeyLars, the article clearly states that the 600 video tapes contained recordsing of immoral encounters with perhaps several dozen young female victims. They were found at his residence, and the only thing in dispute is if they belonged to him.

I don't know much about this story, but it isn't clear to me from the article - is the suspect actually a foreigner or not?

I love the way this article is written to excentuate the fact he is a foreign English teacher. He's been living in Japan for a long time - When in Rome, do as the Romans do! There is no scum lower than kiddy fiddlers.

"he had done it "so that the girls would have a better sex life in the future"

Yeah, right.

shaw34: "is the suspect actually a foreigner or not?"

Yes, a good question... I watched a TV news report that indicated the suspect is an American.

its funny. if its a J-person, people are quick to condemn the "Japanese". since this guy is an American, suddenly you see people start worrying about whether he is being treated fairly.

Actually I only wanted to know if the suspect was Japanese or foreigner, since it was not clear from the article.

I don't think anyone is worrying about being treated fairly or not in this case. Lord knows pedos get far more leeway in Japan than anywhere else - Japan is still the only country in the civilized world where it is not illegal to possess kiddie porn.

Could someone tell me please if this teacher was working at an English teaching school in Fukuoka? If so could you please tell me the name of it? I would appreciate your time with that very much.