Breaking News: American English Conversation Teacher Arrested on Charges of Child Molestation in Japan

This is breaking news out of Fukuoka. A 69 year old American English conversation teacher has been arrested on charges of child molestation. There are reportedly as many as 40 possible victims in the case. The abuse happened over a period of over a decade. He is also accused of having taken photographs and videos of the children.

The crimes are said to have happened at his home. Police uncovered hundreds of videotapes and other evidence of the crimes. Most of the victims were in elementary school at the time of the crimes. The suspect reportedly denied the charges and claimed the videos were taken so that when the children grow up he could show them how they’ve matured.

The man’s name has not been released at the time of this writing.

I debated whether I should report on this and let it sit a few hours, but I think that its something that needs to come out in English language news as well as Japanese language news. If the story gets much bigger, non-Japanese teachers in Japan, especially those with their own schools, or those who interact with young children may be asked about it either directly or indirectly, or may think it’s a good idea to proactively address these topics with employers or students’ parents.

I’ll update this post if I see any big changes in the story.

24 thoughts on “Breaking News: American English Conversation Teacher Arrested on Charges of Child Molestation in Japan”

  1. Pingback: Japundit

  2. As an English teacher in Japan, I agree with you totally – this story needs to be shared. Please do update us as you hear more! Thanks for sharing with us.

  3. Thank you for sharing this news in English. I hope this news will be out to the public as I think it is important for world to know that Japanese Government needs to tighten the law against child molesters like in US. The obscene child-like sex object, images, games etc. in Japan should not be tolerated and should be banned. I just cannot understand the fact that such materials are on the market and it is accepted in general public!?!?

  4. Have not ventured towards the Japanese news wires on the whole for a while, but many thanks for bringing this to our attention.

    As for taking pictures though, remember that in Japan the mere possession of child pornography is not an offence, if it is only for personal use. Whether that carries over to the actual recording/taking photos I am not sure. Not saying I condone it in any way shape or form (couldn’t be further from the truth), but it sounds like the videos might be depicting something more than mere pics of naked children.

  5. I haven’t seen any new news on this, only rehashing of the same story in other newspapers.

    Late last year someone reported that female children were being abused. He was arrested a few times early this year and it culminated in this final arrest during which over 600 videos (reportedly depicting the acts in question) were found.

    Some reports state that he had told the children that if they told anyone their parents would be arrested along with him.

    Such a sad situation with so many victims… I’ll update here in the comments if any new significant news comes out.

  6. Japanese Government needs to tighten the law against child molesters like in US. The obscene child-like sex object, images, games etc. in Japan should not be tolerated and should be banned. I just cannot understand the fact that such materials are on the market and it is accepted in general public!?!?

    I went to a 7-11 a while back and next to the ice cream freezer was the ultra nasty manga with images of girls in School uniz getting used and abused. These people (combini stores) position everything with a strategy. How they strategized that is beyond me.

    I hope the guy fries but I live in a relatively small inaka and 3 Japanese teachers have been arrested for sex with minor girls in 6 years. The creepy attention given to girls in uniz has aLOT of bad side effects and the way police treat female vics makes these crimes just the tip of the huge and unseen or ignored iceberg.

  7. F**k you!!! You piece of shit, when the Japanese lock you up
    I hope they rape you with a red hot molten steel rod up your
    asshole you f**ker.

    What the f**k is it with Americans and sex? This American is filming
    little Japanese boys and girls, fondling them, making videos at his
    ‘English school’ here in Kyushu, I’m almost half tempted to go down
    there and make application to beat his ass to a f**king pulp.

    He just destroyed English as a second language for children in this
    country.

  8. Chris, thanks for the detailed comment. I have to say I agree. I’ve also seen some crazy stuff first hand, including crimes that went unreported, unpublicized, and even unpunished not despite, but BECAUSE they were crimes against children by teachers or parents. Acting “to protect the innocent”… can be a very short-sighted solution in cases like this. Sometimes trying to “protect” victims takes away their voices and complicates the healing process.

    I just hope the victims are able to get help if they need it, and I hope that the media doesn’t misconstrue this kind of crime as a “foreigner in Japan” problem. That could do a lot more harm than good.

  9. Tim, thanks for the comment and the strong feelings (this is a family blog so I threw in a few asterisks so your comment would get through the spam filter).

    You actually bring up an interesting point though. Once the case goes down, I wonder how he’ll be punished. In a lower profile case with less victims, he might just be deported to the US, especially given his age, but this is a high profile case with at least 40 victims over a couple of decades.

    Another good point you make is that the 40 or so kids he molested are not the only victims, every kid that hears about this, and every well-intentioned non-Japanese teacher in Japan may end up victims of this guy.

  10. This is precisely correct, I posted this news on a forum I’m on and I honestly think that if the Japanese want any compensation or indemnity in this case, is to turn him over to us, I assure the Japanese, his head would be cut off and we would impale it on a post in the public square.

    The world has had enough of this assault on children, right now, in Scotland, there is a massive case going on over there about high level pedophiles in the Scottish Government and law enforcement that systematically sexually abused and raped a partially mentally retarded girl and there is absolutely nothing these people can do. They are being victimized by this sexual perversion and these people can’t find relief anywhere.

    These pedophile rings are now out of control and I believe the fallout are cases like this guy in Kyushu just arrested after ten years of this activity. Personally, I will be drawing up a letter in Japanese and will be forwarding it to the police and court system in Kyushu where this guy is incarcerated pleading for the death penalty if he is found guilty and criminal. Let Japan be the first in the world to announce we will no longer tolerate anymore abuse and violence against the most innocent in our societies.

    This is no joke, the English speaking world needs to bring the death penalty back and unless we do these cases are going to continue to traumatize an entire generation of children.

    PS I apologize for my earlier inappropriate remarks, this is an incredibly serious situation, not only in Japan but all over the world.

  11. Another good point, Tim. Thanks a lot for the continued insight…

    It’s also possible that this arrest could lead to a whole network of people being found, although the original news story mentioned videotapes, but not a computer. It’s certainly possible he was trying to find like-minded criminals to connect with. We’ve got nothing but conjecture to work with now though until more information is released.

    I think there’s still a lot more to this story yet to come out. None of it will change the fact of what a tragedy this is.

  12. “Let Japan be the first in the world to announce we will no longer tolerate anymore abuse and violence against the most innocent in our societies.”

    You seem oblivious to the fact that it is not illegal to posess child porn in Japan. They have continued to make this situation worse and their odd ignoring of international pressure is mind boggling.

    Off course the guy should get f___ed hard by a gang of cellmates but he probably came to this country (as I’m sure others do) because they are almost protected by Japans system.

    When you fire off that letter why not write one to the powers that be in Japan and ask them why child porn is not illegal in all forms and manner. Japan has made itself a haven for twisted fu**s

  13. “You seem oblivious to the fact that it is not illegal to posess child porn in Japan. They have continued to make this situation worse and their odd ignoring of international pressure is mind boggling.”

    Wrong choice of words, I am oblivious to nothing, but I know what crime is, especially towards children, the Japanese deserve whatever “their” government gives them, even it it means children getting exploited, raped, molested, filmed and victimized, I have no sympathy for the Japanese people – their appalling ignorance is stunning.

    There is no “Japanese system”, the system is the people, when it becomes unbearable to your average Japanese on the street, i.e., parents who’s child being fondled and molested, you will see them act, it has happened before when a Japanese couple lost their child to violence or negligence.

    Make the individual Japanese feel the pain. There is nothing that can stop child porn, pedophile, sexual molestation, only individuals can stand up, walk into the court of the pedophile rapist standing there before the judge, and at point blank range fire a round through his head. Then you will see it stop; violence works. If it was my child I would kill him regardless the consequences.

    In Japan, compared to the United States, Eastern Europe, Israel, child porn is mild in comparison, the reason people can’t get on the internet or have a long wait using broadband at night, is because porn movies are being viewed by a huge male population in Japan, most of it made outside of Japan.

  14. “Wrong choice of words”

    Well seeing how we basically see this in the same way then yeah, I chose my words wrong. Your response coulda been written by me. It’s nice to see that others feel as stronlgy about the governments pathetic apathy as I do.

    You got my apologies for a poor choice in wording.

  15. No apologies needed.

    Just so no one thinks I’m picking entirely on the Japanese I would like to add a little adjunct information here for a case of pedophilia erupting in Utah with a state legislature since I think this is a good forum as any to bring this to people’s attention.

    And as this case points out, when this legislature in Utah was first exposed, remember, pedophiles often have many victims, just like this pedophile who at first claimed and made public he only victimized one girl.

    This is a world-wide “sickness” for lack of a better description and is reflective of far deeper unrecognized social problems associated with different cultures coming to terms with their sexuality and how they view it. In America, the disparity is quite appalling, I mean, sex is everywhere, America is saturated in sex, i.e., Hollywood, magazines, advertising, television, books, huge pornography industry, schools, clubs, at work, you cannot escape it. Yet, when a state legislature or someone of prominence is caught with his pants down with a twelve year old girl in his hotel room, Americans go into apoplectic insanity. Americans are psychotic.

    Here’s the link to this pedophile case in Utah that is ongoing:
    http://moneyteachers.org/Utah.Pedophile2.htm

  16. Just a brief update about the situation… the offender’s name still hasn’t been released for some reason, but some of the 2ch guys have done a little research and possibly discovered the guys name and photo.

    I don’t want to write the name here until the arrest is confirmed by authorities, but if it is who the 2ch guys think it is, he’s been arrested before in several states in the US for crimes and attempted crimes against children.

    They said he had a long white beard and was referred to as “santa claus” and the like by students in the area. This bit of information helped some of the people around the internet make a guess as to the guys identity. So far, I haven’t seen anything posted by anyone directly associated with the case.

    Once his name is officially released, I’ll post it here in an update with any other released information.

  17. Sorry for the kid.

    But Japanese deserve it.

    Know what you Japanese did to Asia.

    nuclear pawned country.

  18. I’m an American, in the U.S., and I’m constantly disgusted and angry about pedophiles/child molesters… ALL OVER THE WORLD!!!… Though, I can only really speak of the few countries I’ve actually been to (Japan, Taiwan and Canada)…

    In the U.S. and Japan, there is too much explicit sexual content being overly displayed and marketed. I don’t think it should all be banned (like that could/would happen), but it should be “controlled” more… And I will say, for Japan (I love visiting my in-laws there), some of the Manga and magazines with school girl images, etc., are too much…

    True, jay@newzjapan, NO country in the world deserves a guy like that. But EVERY country has them. It’s an unfortunate side to human nature, and they have been around since the beginning of mankind. We can’t stop them, but we can control (to some extent) them/their actions.

    Unfortunately, people are people… men are men… pedophiles are pedophiles… Child molesters aren’t going anywhere. They will continue to commit horrible crimes against our children… All we can do is make it more difficult, catch them sooner, and give tougher punishments…

    I have mixed feelings about how they should be punished, however. On one hand, I’m fine with the death penalty. On the other hand, there are different levels of molestations. Should they ALL get death?…

    What if, for example, a child molester only committed one crime, and it was “just” photos taken and/or fondling?… Maybe death is too harsh, and he/she could get some jail time with help/treatment?… I don’t know… I can just as easily say/feel, screw them!… They’re ALL outta here!… Remove them from our lives and planet!…

    If it happened to my daughter (3 years old), I don’t know what I’d do…

  19. dAvE- Thanks for the comment. (And great job on the design of your site!)

    I really don’t know what kind of punishment this guy’s going to get but if he is who I think he is, he’s also wanted in the US for crimes against children as well. There should be a lot of questions in both countries about how this guy was able to leave the US and get a visa to live in Japan. On Japan’s side, I sincerely hope they look at why it took so long to find out about this guy. It pains me to think that there may have been parents misunderstanding their children’s protests and actually forcing them to go to this guys house to “learn English”.

  20. Look, the heat is coming down on these pedophile rings operating around the world producing kiddie videos, snuff films and who are supplying a constant source of child meat to some incredibly dangerous elites around the world who have an insatiable appetite for sexual domination of children to further enforce their occult-like power. The reason why is because children have the one thing adults can never have and that is their innocence. What’s worse, there are many children who are missing that have been sacrificed in orgies of sex when you start getting into the serious end of pedophilia, like in Scotland where it is out of control.

    This is the ultimate travesty against humanity and all you have to do to confirm this is to look what’s happening with Pope Rat and these pedophile cases as it trickles down to the lower rungs of society as with this guy arrested in Japan. Not that it is connected but clearly, pedophilia is having an impact on all of us at some level.

    The thing to do would be to interrogate this freak until every scrap of paper, document, postal address, his personal records, computer records, sales receipts, anything and every thing connected with this guy to determine who if anyone he was supplying Japanese child meat to and then commence enforcing American RICO laws internationally to start taking these pedophile networks down.

    These pedophiles have gone too far and retribution is coming.

  21. I hope that, as with many arrests of this type, the police can work with the U.N. and use this guy to track down a few hundred or more people who are doing the same kind of thing. Guys like this always seem to leave a trail.

  22. Related:

    This is a quote from the news on the death of state Senator Nancy Schaefer who was found dead along with her husband in an apparent murder-suicide:

    “Conservative political activist and former state Sen. Nancy Schaefer and her husband Bruce have died of an apparent murder-suicide. Few details were available Saturday, the day after the couple’s bodies were found. It could be weeks before autopsy results are available, Habersham county Coroner Kasey McEntire told the AJC Saturday….”

    This wasn’t a murder-suicide by her husband as claimed. Nancy Schaefer finished a documentary and was getting ready to “name names” in a very high profile case involving pedophile rings operating out of the state child protective services. She was murdered to silence her investigation into these pedophile rings.

    http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/murder-suicide-possible-cause-408021.html

  23. I hope as many of these rings as exist get broken up. Crimes against children affect all of society. I am still waiting to hear news about this particular case, and still surprised the mainstream news in Japan is not releasing names. They may be deciding what to do with them, or hopefully, as a few people mentioned above getting him to reveal any accomplices, ring members, customers or trade partners, or anyone else involved. It wouldn’t surprise me if this case in Fukuoka extended internationally.

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