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

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.