TOYAMA (TR) – Police in Takaoka City have charged a 35-year-old unemployed man of no fixed address after he allegedly crept into a local middle school and made off with eight insoles pulled from four pairs of students’ indoor shoes, reports Nippon News Network (Nov. 6).
When investigators searched the home of Daisuke Matsuzaki they found 451 insoles laid out across a blue tarpaulin sheet.
The haul points to a fetish campaign stretching back years.
According to police, Matsuzaki is believed to have broken into more than 30 elementary, middle, and high schools across Toyama Prefecture, targeting their shoe lockers in what investigators describe as a systematic pattern of intrusion.
The indictment was filed on Friday.
During questioning on suspicion of building trespass and theft, Matsuzaki reportedly admitted to the allegations and told investigators he had been stealing insoles since his own middle school days, but said the obsession escalated into a full-blown operation roughly two years ago.
The suspect claimed to have selected his targets by scouting victims through television and the internet.
On how he gained entry, Matsuzaki was blunt. He told police he struck at night and simply looked for unlocked doors.
