HIROSHIMA (TR) – Prosecutors here have demanded a 13-year prison sentence for a 39-year-old former elementary school teacher accused of sexually assaulting and filming dozens of female students, reports RCC Broadcasting (June 22).
Takeo Nakajima, a former teacher at a Hiroshima municipal elementary school, is facing charges including non-consensual indecency. During a hearing at the Hiroshima District Court on Monday, prosecutors revealed that over a period of one year and nine months, Nakajima abused his position of trust to target 34 young girls at the school where he worked.
Taking the stand, Nakajima blamed his actions on stress, telling the court, “I acted impulsively. My head was full of my own desires, and I couldn’t think about the children.”
He also confessed to saving secretly recorded images and videos of the students on a high-capacity storage drive. In a disturbing admission, Nakajima said he named the digital files using the girls’ real names combined with “obscene words to arouse my excitement.”
Condemning the crimes as “habitual and despicable,” prosecutors formally requested a 13-year prison term.
Meanwhile, Nakajima’s defense team pleaded for a lenient sentence, arguing that the disgraced educator is deeply remorseful and plans to undergo medical treatment to suppress his sexual urges.
In his final statement, Nakajima dropped to his hands and knees in a traditional dogeza prostration to beg for mercy.
“While everyone desires a school to be a safe and fun place, I am truly sorry for damaging that important place and wounding the hearts and growth of precious children,” he told the courtroom.
The verdict in the case is scheduled to be handed down on August 19.
