National News

KASHIWARA, Osaka -- If the incident had never happened, the teacher could still be committing crimes.

On an autumn night, a 30-year-old guard on duty at an elementary school in Kashiwara rummaged through the desk and locker of a 53-year-old teacher at the school. He was after something he had spotted in the past.

What he stole was a video tape and photographs. They showed young girls naked and in their underwear as they changed for their pool lessons and took body measurements. The guard copied the images onto a DVD, and put it in the teacher's drawer with a note:

"Watch this by yourself. What do you think?"

The following morning, the teacher sent an e-mail to an address contained in the note. Soon, he got a reply suggesting he would have to pay up or face consequences.

"How much (money) can you prepare? You can still be a good husband, a good father, and a good teacher, just like up until now."

The teacher went to police, who arrested the guard on suspicion of attempted blackmail. Prefectural police searched the guard's home and other locations and seized six videos and about 500 photographs.

But the investigation was not finished. Police turned their attention to the teacher, investigating him on suspicion of violating the Law Punishing Acts Related to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.

When questioned by police, the teacher reportedly admitted having secretly taken images for about 20 years.

"I looked at a book of contributed images and thought that if that was the level, I could do the same thing myself," he was quoted as saying.

The teacher had graduated from a national university, and was employed as an educator in 1981. He had a good reputation as an enthusiastic teacher, and was dispatched to a Japanese school in Hong Kong. On his days off, he participated in nature preservation activities, and was an active tree planter.

Because the teacher knew a lot about digital equipment, he was placed in charge of audio-visual work. In classes, he taught children how to use computers, and at school events he was in charge of photography. But he ended up abusing the technology, exciting himself by taking secret footage and arranging images.

Just one month before the teacher's actions were uncovered, he had let the students use water pistols during a lesson, and ordered them to change out of their wet clothes in a classroom. They were captured on a hidden camera that was linked to a video deck in the neighboring classroom.

But police investigators reached a deadlock. The teacher had already deleted the images from his computer, and there was no evidence that he had provided them to anyone else. Under current laws in Japan, mere possession of child pornography for the purpose of personal viewing is not banned. The crime of simple production of child pornography is applicable only to images in which the children are made to engage in sexual poses, and could not be applied in the teacher's case. Eventually, the teacher was reported to public prosecutors on suspicion of violating the Minor Offence Law, and his punishment ended with a fine of under 10,000 yen.

"The law was too weak," said a frustrated law enforcer commenting on the investigation.

Later the teacher was sacked. He returned his teacher's license and disappeared from the teaching scene.

The Kashiwara Municipal Board of Education dispatched a counselor to attend to pupils and to prevent shock over the incident spreading. Workers searched the school and called for children to come to school, feeling at ease.

But fears related to the teacher's actions have not vanished.

"There's no guarantee that my daughter wasn't one of the victims," said one worried mother. "I hate to think what would happen if the images ended up on the Internet someday and she came across them."

Information on who was photographed has still not been released.