HYOGO (TR) – A 56-year-old police sergeant in Hyogo Prefecture has resigned and been referred to prosecutors after sexually assaulting two women while they were unconscious and filming the acts on camera, authorities revealed, reports Mainichi Broadcasting System (Nov. 13).
According to the Hyogo Prefectural Police, the male sergeant, assigned to the community affairs section of a station in the Hanshin area, took advantage of a 50-year-old woman with whom he was having an extramarital affair on August 14, 2023. At a hotel in Kobe, while the woman was asleep under the influence of alcohol, he sexually assaulted her and captured the acts using a smartphone and digital camera.
The assault was uncovered after the victim phoned the prefectural police department’s specialized sex crimes consultation hotline in July.
A subsequent probe led to a second disturbing discovery: in 2017, the sergeant used a digital camera to film himself committing an indecent act against another female acquaintance, then in her late teens, while she was sound asleep indoors. Police said the younger woman had no idea she had been assaulted until investigators intervened.
On the 13th, the department handed the sergeant a three-month suspension. He submitted his resignation the same day and was formally referred to prosecutors on suspicion of non-consensual sexual intercourse and quasi-forcible indecency.
“I am truly sorry to the victims for what I have done,” the officer was quoted as saying.
Kenji Ogami, head of the internal affairs division, slammed the former officer’s conduct in a statement.
“This is an outrageous act that should never be committed by a member of the police force, and we have disciplined him strictly,” Ogami said. “We will thoroughly educate and guide our personnel to ensure this does not happen again.”
