SAITAMA (TR) – Saitama Prefectural Police have accused a part-time employee at a child care center of distributing child pornography last year, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Feb. 12).
On the night of June 1, Hirofumi Hoya, 29, allegedly passed a hard disc containing nude images of three girls, aged between 6 and 8, to a male acquaintance, 43, at a restaurant in Nishitokyo City.
Police had already sent the acquaintance to prosecutors on suspicion of possession of child pornography.
Hoya partially denies the allegations. “I passed [something to him], but I do not clearly recall,” the suspect was quoted by police.
On February 9, police were tipped off about a “man taking photographs of a child” in Hanyu City. Officers arriving at the scene apprehended Hoya and the acquaintance.
An examination of the smartphone of the acquaintance revealed child pornography, police said.
“I got to know Hoya through a photography group two or three years ago,” the acquaintance told police. “We have exchanged over 1,000 films and photographs.”
Hoya also said that the photography exchange only took place between him and the acquaintance “in order to not be caught by the police,” according to Fuji News Network (Feb. 14).
