SAITAMA (TR) – Saitama Prefectural Police have arrested a male elementary school vice principal on suspicion of taking illicit photos of a high school girl on a train, reports the Tokyo Shimbun (Oct. 29).
At around 5:05 pm on September 2, Takayuki Abe, a 51-year-old vice principal at a public elementary school, is suspected of taking tosatsu (voyeur) footage up the high school girl’s skirt with his smartphone on a train stopped at Kiyose Station on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line.
During questioning on suspicion of violating the Law Banning the Taking of Sexually Explicit Photographs, Abe admitted to the charges. “I wanted to see a high school girl’s underwear,” he said.
Abe, who lives in Tokorozaawa City, Saitama Prefecture, is vice principal at Nakahara Elementary School in Nishitokyo City.
According to police, officers questioned Abe after he resembled a suspect seen in security camera footage in an investigation of another voyeurism case in Tokorozawa that took place in April. The current case emerged after police searched his smartphone on September 4.
During the check the of the Abe’s smartphone, police found dozens of illicit images and videos that are believed to have been taken by the suspect.
The Nishitokyo City Board of Education held a press conference on October 28. In addition to apologizing, a representative said, “We have caused great anxiety and inconvenience to parents and children.”
