Junior High Teacher Arrested for Indecent Conduct Reveals Selfish Motive at Trial

“In April 2023, I was transferred to a new middle school. The stress and loneliness associated with the transfer, and the sadness of not being able to see the male student I had feelings for, were overwhelming. To distract myself from these feelings, I began inviting former students.”

A former middle school teacher who committed lewd acts and took illicit photographs of multiple male students confessed in court that ‘loneliness’ was behind the incidents.

The former middle school teacher in question is Mikichi Tonozaki (44), who was charged with crimes including the filming of sexual acts, violations of the Child Pornography Prevention Act, and violations of the Child Welfare Act.

On October 16, 2023, the Saitama Prefectural Police arrested defendant Tonozaki, a middle school teacher (dismissed from duty on February 8, 2023), on suspicion of forcible indecency for committing indecent acts with a male student at a hot spring facility in Gunma during a school event in 2019.

Although the case was later not prosecuted, over 1,000 indecent videos and still images of young men were found on defendant Tonozaki’s confiscated smartphone. It is said that the images included students and former students who were in their teens at the time.

Since then, the defendant Tonozaki has been arrested five times for indecent acts and voyeuristic photography of male students, which he committed over a period of about four years starting in 2019. The number of victims exceeded 20.

Although defendant Tonozaki caused many victims, he was known as a capable instructor at the middle school where he worked, serving as the advisor for the brass band club and leading them to the “All-Japan Band Competition” six times. He was also a standing director of the Prefectural Band Association.

Given this, a parent of a former brass band member said, “The practice sessions were reportedly very harsh. If mistakes were made, there would be yelling and abusive language. I’ve heard that the severity led some students to quit the band or even become truant.”

In the trial that began on February 8, 2024, the despicable acts committed by the defendant gradually came to light.

 

According to the prosecutor’s opening statement,

“In early January 2023, the defendant invited A, a former member of the club, to a private room at a hot spring resort in Tokyo, where he engaged in lewd acts, including touching A’s genitals and rubbing A’s genitals against the defendant’s. In early May of the same year, the defendant visited A at the junior high school where he worked, and engaged in lewd acts solely to satisfy his own sexual desire. In early May of the same year, he also committed lewd acts with A, who visited the junior high school where the defendant worked, solely to satisfy his sexual desire. In mid-May of the same year, he visited a hot spring resort in Tochigi Prefecture with B, a former student of his, and secretly took pictures of B’s genitalia and other parts of his body in a room of the resort with a smartphone that was set to record video. In late May of the same year, in a private room at a spa facility in Saitama Prefecture, he committed indecent acts, including touching the genitals of former club member C.” (Prosecutor)

The defendant stated that he “had a liking for A,” and that he had touched A’s genitals in the past at school. And at the time of each offense, he took video of A with a smartphone that was set to video recording status.

 During the questioning of the defendant, when the defense attorney asked, “Did you consider taking clandestine videos before going on the trip with B?” the defendant replied, “No. While we were taking a bath together, I developed a desire to record the scene on video, and so I ended up filming it.” He claimed that it was not premeditated.

He also stated, “All of the crimes were committed to satisfy my own sexual desires. Because the victims did not reject me at the time of the offenses, I interpreted it as them accepting me. However, now I believe that it might have been difficult for them to refuse due to the overwhelming power dynamics.”

He further expressed his remorse to the victims and their guardians, saying, “I deeply regret having done something that cannot be undone. I am sorry for the outcome, even though I had informed the guardians in advance about going to the hot spring facility and had their permission.”

During the trial, the prosecutor read a portion of the victim’s guardian’s statement.

A guardian of B said, “Even now, after having been victimized, some people still say, ‘I can’t dislike the defendant because I became so fond of band music thanks to him.’ We thought the defendant was concerned about us as a mentor who cared for us even after graduation. But it seems that from the beginning, the defendant only viewed the victims as objects of sexual desire. It’s truly devastating and infuriating.”

 Other victims’ guardians also expressed strong sentiments, saying, “We feel betrayed by the defendant and absolutely cannot forgive him” and “We hope for severe punishment for the defendant.”

Moreover, the defendant did not cease his covert filming activities even at his new middle school assignment.

 

 

In July 2023, during a joint camp for the brass band, defendant Tonozaki secretly recorded videos of four male students’ genitals using a smartphone set to video recording mode in the changing room of the hotel’s large public bath.

During a school excursion in September of the same year, in the changing room of the hotel where they were staying, the defendant concealed a smartphone in his breast pocket and took video of the genitals of 16 male students and saved the video. A voyeurism app was used to take the pictures.

Originally, “I had a sexual interest in boys of junior high school age, so for several years I had been taking pictures of naked boys when I led school trips and patrolled the bathrooms,” he said.

When asked by the defense attorney why he engaged in covert filming, defendant Tonozaki replied, “It was to satisfy my sexual desires. I knew it was wrong, but the feeling that I wouldn’t get caught outweighed my awareness of the wrongdoing.”

He bowed his head and said, “I am truly sorry for having done such irreparable things during important events like school trips and camps, which were precious memories for the middle school students.”

On June 7, 2024, in the sentencing hearing, Judge Takuhisa Nakagawa pointed out that the defendant used his influence as a teacher and club advisor to satisfy his own sexual desires. He sentenced the defendant to 3 years in prison.

In his final statement, defendant Tonozaki said, “The past cannot be changed, but I believe the future can be altered. From now on, I want to live with a deep and sincere reflection on the fact that I hurt important students, and I wish to carry a sense of atonement throughout my life.” He bowed deeply toward the audience.

On the other hand, the parents of the male student who initially filed a complaint but whose case was not prosecuted said, “Since learning about the harm done to our son, our lives have been at a standstill.”

In the second part of the article, “‘Anger’ and ‘Regret’ Confessed by Parents of Student Victimized by Teacher’s Indecent Beh avior,” the parents of a former student, D-kun, who was indecently assaulted by the defendant, confess their anger toward the defendant.