A man who forced dozens of middle and high school girls to send indecent images to him as “work” was sentenced to death.
‘We are offering a reward in return for your help.
This is a job we do exclusively for girls in the high school and junior high school age bracket.”
A 36-year-old man sent these messages to the victim girls’ social networking sites. He had as many as 20 junior high and high school girls send him indecent images, and with two of them, he paid money to engage in sexual acts while at the same time filming them.
The defendant, Yasutoshi Ichikawa, 36, was charged with six counts of (1) non-consensual obscenity, (2) non-consensual sexual intercourse, (3) photographing sexual acts, (4) demanding video transmission from a person under 16, (5) visiting a person under 16, and (6) violating the Child Pornography Law. On May 12, 2014, the Saitama District Court held a sentencing hearing for Ichikawa, and Judge Kenji Koike sentenced him to 7 years in prison (8 years is the recommended sentence).
On June 25, ’25, Saitama Prefectural Police Investigation Division 1, Juvenile Division, and Kazo Police Station arrested Ichikawa, an unemployed defendant from Atsugi City, Kanagawa Prefecture, on suspicion of indecency with non-consent, etc. He was suspected of having a female junior high and high school student, whom he met through SNS, take sexual images and videos, have them sent, and store them on his computer. The case came to light when a relative of the victimized junior high school girl consulted the Kazo Police Station. Ichikawa said, “I did it because I could not suppress my sexual desire. He admitted the charges, saying that he preferred teenage girls in junior high and high school,'” said a reporter from the society section of a national newspaper.
Later, Ichikawa stated that he had committed similar crimes against about 20 to 50 female junior and senior high school students over the past seven years, leading to his repeated arrest and prosecution.
The prefectural police concluded their investigation by establishing charges against 20 women under the age of 18.” In addition, 663 still images and 198 videos were confirmed from the seized USB memory stick and other items. Ichikawa paid the women between 500 yen and 25,000 yen as compensation.
Ichikawa’s trial revealed that the defendant committed a despicable crime by taking advantage of the girls’ immature judgment.
When Ichikawa found the accounts of female junior and senior high school students on SNS, he sent messages such as the one at the beginning of this article, pretending that it was a “job,” saying things like, “I am offering you a reward for your help. When they received a reply, they sent several sample images and a questionnaire to confirm the extent to which they could take pictures of the girl. They also had the victim girls take and send pictures of their breasts and lower body.
The victim also called the act of giving money for sexual intercourse “aid,” and sent messages in polite language that seemed to imply that it was a proper job, such as, “When we give you aid, we will come to you and pay you by hand,” and “We are trying to arrange a date, but we are a little busy, so we will pay you part of the money ahead of time. The person who came up with this format is ‘I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve been going through. He said he came up with this format around 2008. The trial court noted that he cleverly avoided making the girls feel guilty by using these phrases.
Motivated by “past successes
What motivated Ichikawa to commit such crimes? During questioning of the defendant, he stated, “I was having trouble finding a job, had no income, and was in a relationship with a woman who was desperate.
I was desperate because my job hunting was not going well, I had no income, and I broke up with a girl I was dating. The money I gave to the victim girl was borrowed from consumer loans and my parents. I couldn’t stop because of loneliness and past successes.”
The “past successes” were the 500,000 fine he paid in 1919 for having an underage girl send him indecent photos. Why is it a “successful experience” when he was fined? He explained this point as follows.
The fine was very heavy. I didn’t want to commit any more crimes, but my sexual desire got the better of me. I had “flashbacks” of my past experiences with girls, and I was tempted to do it again.
Ichikawa probably meant to say that he remembered his past crimes because they stimulated him. Hearing this statement, Judge Koike immediately said, “You are using the word ‘flashback’ incorrectly. You shouldn’t use unfamiliar words.
Ichikawa also revealed that he had already been confronting his sexuality.
After the police raided his home in February ’25, Ichikawa felt that he had been “exposed” and “realized once again that he could not go on like this and that he had to get treatment,” and he started going to a specialized clinic before he was arrested. He also promised to continue his treatment, saying that it was important to control his actions and thoughts so that he would not feel bad.
He said, “What I felt while undergoing treatment was the importance of seeking help and consultation, and the reassurance that there are others who are suffering the same way as I am. Now that I have learned these things, I would like to continue treatment in the future.
However, it is not just a matter of confronting and treating one’s sexual proclivities. It is not difficult to imagine that Ichikawa’s crime caused emotional trauma to many girls
They were supposed to be names we shouldn’t forget…
At the trial, the victim girls were called by the alphabet in order, starting with Mr. A, who was the first to be charged. When the judge asked the defendant, “Can you recall the name of the victim who was called Ms. F in the alphabet?”, Ichikawa replied , “I’m sorry, I can’t recall.
However, when the judge asked , “He is the one who died in this case, if I say so, can you recall him?” Ichikawa answered, “Yes.
During the trial, there was a scene in which the prosecutor read the statement of Ms. F’s mother. In her statement, she revealed her surprise when she learned that her daughter had been involved in a crime and her regret at not being able to protect her.
When the Saitama Prefectural Police told her that her daughter had sent naked photos to the arrested criminal, her mother could not believe it at first. When we questioned Ms. F., she answered, “I don’t know,” but eventually she confided , “I sent naked photos to a man and received money for them. She confided, ” I took the pictures in my room.
Later, she heard a slamming door, and when her mother rushed to see, she found the balcony window open and Mr. F. lying under the balcony. She immediately called an ambulance, but Mr. F passed away at the hospital.
In her statement, Ms. F’s mother expressed her anger toward Mr. Ichikawa.
When I think back now, there was a time when I was driving with my daughter and she asked me something like, ‘Do men like to take naked pictures of themselves? This was the first time I was asked a sexual question.
I think my daughter had been sexually victimized by her attacker, and she was worried about it because she couldn’t talk to anyone about it. But I guess she couldn’t hold it in anymore and wanted to ask me for my opinion. I cannot forgive the murderer for bringing my daughter to that point.
Ichikawa described what happened when he learned of Ms. F’s death.
I was really pale because of the serious consequences. I never imagined that it would end like this, and I felt the weight of what I had done very keenly. I feel very sorry for the victims.
Ichikawa, who was sentenced to seven years in prison, will serve his sentence if he does not appeal. However, as he has said in his own words of remorse, the series of crimes he committed even caused some of the victims to take their own lives. We can only pray that he accepts the serious facts and does not have a “flashback” as a “successful experience” this time.
Interview and text by： Nakahira