The 37-year-old teacher “repeatedly indecently assaulted female high school students in the classroom”.

A classroom at night, empty after classes had ended and students and teachers had gone home. It seems that the man repeatedly committed indecent acts on the girl student there.

By July 26, the Katsushika Police Station of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department had arrested Toshiaki Ogamo, 37, a cram school teacher in Misato City, Saitama Prefecture, on suspicion of violating the Child Welfare Law (lewd acts). The suspect allegedly committed an indecent act inside a cram school in Adachi Ward, Tokyo, knowing that his student, a 17-year-old girl in her junior year of high school, was underage. The suspect admitted to the police that he had been regularly engaging in lewd acts inside the cram school.

The suspect apparently had a liking for Ms. A. From April, his behavior escalated further. She repeatedly engaged in lewd acts not only in classrooms where people had disappeared, but also at Ogamo’s home and hotels.

When her parents became suspicious that she was coming home late, they asked Ms. A about the situation and consulted the police. The incident was discovered. Upon investigation, the suspect stated the following. He said that he had committed lewd acts inside the cram school about 10 times and that he took advantage of his position as an instructor.

Cram schools where it is easy for two students to be alone

There have been many cases of obscenity by tutoring staff. The following are some of the major cases.

In September 2010, a man in his 40s was arrested on suspicion of indecent assault. He was suspected of touching the breasts and back of an elementary school girl student at a cram school in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, where he worked. The man admitted the charges.

In September of the same year, a British national in his 50s living in Isesaki City, Gunma Prefecture, was arrested on suspicion of quasi-forcible indecency. He allegedly touched the lower half of a female high school student whom he was tutoring at his English conversation school. His parents consulted the police after receiving advice from a high school student.

In July of this year, a man in his 70s who runs a tutoring school in Nerima Ward, Tokyo, was arrested on suspicion of indecent assault. On the day of the announcement of a student’s passing grade, he called a teenage girl to the cram school and asked her to come to report her result, then put his hands inside her clothes, touched her, and kissed her. Several of his students have complained of being victimized.

Why do cram school teachers continue to commit crimes?

The number of students and teachers at cram schools is not as large as at schools, and it is relatively easy for students to be alone with their teachers after class. In addition, the tutoring methods are largely left to the discretion of each instructor.

Some instructors may take advantage of this situation and engage in indecent acts with their students. If a parent notices something unusual about their child, they should immediately report it to the cram school in question. If it is an incident, the police should be consulted.

It seems that the suspect arrested this time, Ogamo, had gotten a taste of the behind-closed-doors act and was repeating the act.