YAMAGATA (TR) – A court here earlier this month handed a 31-year-old man a suspended prison term for taking voyeur photographs of women bathing and changing their clothes at a bath in mountains of Yamagata City earlier this year.
On September 17, the Yamagata District Court handed the unidentified defendant, who lives Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture, a two-year prison term, suspended for five years, for taking pictures that violate the Law Banning the Taking of Sexually Explicit Photographs and the Child Pornography Prohibition Act.
According to the indictment, the man hid in the mountains near the bathing facility in May and took pictures of 44 women bathing and changing clothes with a camera equipped with a telephoto lens.
The defendant also took pictures of women bathing and changing clothes in the open-air rotenburo bath of the facility using a pair of small cameras concealed as onsen rocks.
During the trial, the defendant admitted to the charges. “I did it to satisfy my interest in women and my intellectual curiosity,” he said, according to TUY News (Sep. 17).
“Over 1,000 people”
The prosecution, which sought a two-year term, revealed that the man had stated during the investigation that he had “secretly taken photos of over 1,000 people.”
The prosecution added that his crimes were “planned, habitual and malicious,” and that there was a “high possibility of him reoffending.”
Meanwhile, the defense sought a suspended sentence, stating that the man had “showed signs of remorse” by supplying evidence and appearing in court.
Taking pictures of unclothed women
The defendant is believed to have come to Yamagata Prefecture for the purpose of taking pictures of unclothed women.
As to the hidden cameras, he set those in the shade of rocks and another location in the women’s open-air bath. One of the cameras shot video of women’s breasts and other parts of their bodies.
The small cameras were modfied to resemble rocks. A black portable battery and a brown charging cord were also found in the open-air bath. The lens of the camera was sunk into the fake rock just below the surface such that it looked like a natural feature.
On May 6, a customer at the hot springs facility noticed the camera had been installed and called the police. At some point thereafter, the defendant visited the facility to retrieve the camera only to find it gone. He surrendered to police on May 10.
