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Man suspected selling footage of sex workers taken with spy cam in glasses

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 42-year-old man over the alleged sale on the internet of illicit footage of female sex workers, reports the Asahi Shimbun (July 30).

In June and July, Yasuhiko Tobata, a company employee, allegedly sold footage of several sex workers on the pay-to-view site FC2 Contents Market, which is based in the U.S.

Upon his arrest on suspicion of using electronic means to distribute obscene media, Tobata admitted to the allegations. “I thought that if I made money, I could visit more sex shops,” the suspect told police.

Yasuhiko Tobata (Twitter)

In carrying out the crimes, Tobata mounted a hidden camera on the frame of his glasses to take tosatsu (voyeur) footage during encounters with them.

In May, a sex worker lodged a complaint with police. “[A customer] seems to have taken tosatsu footage,” she told police. “There was something strange about his thick glasses.”

After footage of the woman was found on FC2 Contents Market, police launched an investigation in June.

Between March and July, Tobata is believed to have accumulated about 1 million yen in sales from videos of 33 women on the site.