teaching in japan, another scandal

from Asahi shimbun online

Suspended term in teacher porn case

07/06/2007
BY YUICHIRO MASUMITSU, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

A former elementary school teacher was given a suspended prison sentence Thursday for posting on his Web site photos of children who died in accidents.

photoTadaari Katayama, whose son Shun was featured on Toshio Watanabe's Web site, and other families meet reporters.(TAKAHARU YAGI/ THE ASAHI SHIMBUN)

Toshio Watanabe, 34, had admitted he got a sexual thrill out of such pictures, which he used without permission. He also sent e-mails with attachments containing pornographic pictures of children to acquaintances.

Bereaved families of the children whose photos were posted without their knowledge expressed outrage at the Tokyo District Court's decision to suspend Watanabe's 2 1/2-year prison term.

Placed on probation for the duration of his 5-year suspension, Watanabe must, however, undergo programs to prevent recidivism.

Watanabe was found guilty of violating the Copyright Law and the law for punishing acts related to child prostitution and pornography.

"It is an outrageous act for an elementary school teacher to trifle with children as objects of sexual interest," said Presiding Judge Osamu Iguchi.

According to the ruling, Watanabe used photos of five children taken before they were killed in traffic accidents and other tragedies. He downloaded the photos from the families' Web sites.

Watanabe, who formerly taught at a municipal school in Hamura, Tokyo, also sent photos of naked boys to those who accessed his site.

According to the ruling, Watanabe is sexually aroused by photos of children. It said he set up his Web site to contact others with the same sexual inclination.

The site, Club Kids, also showed the corpses apparently of young victims of natural disasters abroad.

Iguchi denounced Watanabe as mean and cunning in hurting the bereaved families' feelings by using photos posted in the children's memory.

"While pretending he regretted their deaths, he showed the photos along with other ghoulish photos of corpses, adding comments as if to fan distorted sexual interest," the judge said.

Nevertheless, Watanabe was handed a suspended term on grounds "it is important for him to learn to discipline himself while being part of society."

Bereaved families, whose efforts prompted police to act in the case, were aghast that Watanabe must only observe a probationary period.

"We know there are people who want his Web site revived," said Nahoko Kakiuchi, who lost her 6-year-old son in a traffic accident. "I wanted a sentence that would put him behind the bars."

Watanabe's Web site scored 200,000 or so hits in the six or seven years it operated. It was shut down in 2006.

Watanabe said he received more e-mail messages of sympathy than criticism for the site.(IHT/Asahi: July 6,2007)