KANAGAWA (TR) – Kanagawa Prefectural Police have seized 140,000 pirated child pornography DVDs as a part of an investigation into illegal sales by an online marketplace, reports Fuji News Network (Oct. 24).
On Monday, police accused Akira Maeda, a 54-year-old executive of a company in Osaka Prefecture, and five other suspects of selling a total of 25 pirated DVDs whose content includes child pornography for up to 300 yen each to four men living in Kangawa Prefecture on five occasions between October 4, 2018 and August 20.
According to police, Maeda infringed upon the copyright of four adult video production companies and violated the anti-child pornography law. “I knowledge infringing upon copyrights, but not to [dealing in] child pornography,” the suspect was quoted by police.
According to police, Maeda’s online marketplace accumulated 25 million yen in sales over a one-year period ending in August. During a search of a warehouse connected to the suspects, police seized the 140,000 pirated DVDs.
In August of last year, police launched an investigation after receiving an anonymous tip about the operation. Police have made no mention about the legality of the original DVDs under the anti-child pornography law.
