<figure id="attachment_473679" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 1600px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-473679"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="9b877b47"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/07/33a54d6e82e1e99121f100d11eabe755.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-473679" class="wp-caption-text">A man who instructed a mother over a video call and viewed her two daughters in sexually explicit situations explained his excuse in court (image for illustrative purposes only).</figcaption></figure>
<h3> Recruiting single mothers on social media</h3>
&#8220;Single mothers, I&#8217;ll provide financial support.&#8221;
According to the prosecution, this was the message a 33-year-old man posted on social media. When women responded, he allegedly told them that he would pay them if they showed him their daughters naked.
&#8220;On February 3, 2026, the Juvenile Affairs Division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police arrested Shuichi Akasaki (33), an unemployed man from Minami Ward, Fukuoka City, on suspicion of non-consensual indecent acts and producing sexually explicit images.
Prosecutors allege that between late May and early June of last year, Akasaki conducted video calls with a single mother living in Tokyo and instructed her to film her daughters—identified as A (then 14) and B (then 11)—while they were naked.
The case came to light after A reported what had happened to a teacher at her junior high school. Akasaki partially denied the allegations, reportedly saying, &#8216;I saw B naked, but I did not see A,'&#8221; said a reporter covering crime for a national newspaper.
Two days after Akasaki&#8217;s arrest, on February 5, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police referred the mother to prosecutors for allegedly filming and sending images of her daughters naked. She reportedly stated:
&#8220;I believed that if I followed Akasaki&#8217;s instructions, I would receive money. I failed to respect my daughters&#8217; feelings and forced them to comply.&#8221;
On July 8, the Tokyo District Court handed down its ruling in Akasaki&#8217;s case on the charge of non-consensual indecent acts. What did he say in court? The proceedings reviewed the events leading up to the case.
At trial, Akasaki admitted his guilt. However, when questioned about specific details, he repeatedly claimed that he couldn&#8217;t remember.
In late May of last year, after Akasaki posted the message quoted above offering financial assistance, the mother contacted him, writing:
&#8220;I&#8217;m a single mother. My children are 14 and 11 years old.&#8221;
&#8220;Please help me.&#8221;
When his defense attorney asked whether he had already intended, at the time he made the post, to have children engage in sexual acts, Akasaki replied:
&#8220;It was half and half.&#8221;
He elaborated:
&#8220;Part of it was just a reckless impulse, and part of me hoped I&#8217;d be able to watch sexual situations over a video call. It was about half and half.&#8221;
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead="The content of the video call was…"></div>
<h3>His social media account suddeny became unusable</h3>
During the video call, Akasaki could see the mother, but he never showed his own face or spoke. Instead, he communicated only through text messages. After sending a message asking the mother to please have A and B join the call, she brought both daughters onto the video call.
According to the prosecution, Akasaki then personally sent instructions to the girls. However, at trial he claimed he could not remember the specific details.
&#8220;Honestly, I don&#8217;t remember clearly. I sent messages to either A or B asking them to show me their underwear or their chest—I sent messages asking them to perform indecent acts.&#8221;
Regarding the girls&#8217; ages, Akasaki also insisted that he did not know how old they were at the time of the offense. He testified that he only learned their ages after his arrest, when investigators showed him the message records and other evidence.
Although Akasaki had messaged the mother saying, &#8220;I&#8217;ll provide ¥800,000 in financial support if you show me A and B naked,&#8221; he ultimately paid nothing at all.
At trial, he claimed that he had originally intended to provide about ¥300,000 in assistance, and that the amount increased as he requested to see the two girls in sexual situations. Even so, he insisted he had genuinely intended to make the payment.
Explaining why he never did, he testified:
&#8220;I had enough savings to pay the amount I promised. But for reasons I still don&#8217;t understand, as soon as I promised the money, my social media account suddenly became unusable. Then I no longer knew the other party&#8217;s account, so I had no way to contact them. That&#8217;s why I couldn&#8217;t make the payment.&#8221;
At the second hearing on June 23, both sides delivered their closing arguments.
The prosecutor argued that Akasaki had sexually exploited the victims while disregarding their dignity, making his conduct particularly despicable. The prosecutor further stated:
&#8220;He took advantage of the financial hardship of his accomplice (the mother). She followed his instructions out of desperation, clinging to the hope of receiving financial assistance. The fact that he never paid her at all demonstrates that he never intended to provide support; his sole objective was to satisfy his own sexual desires.&#8221;
The prosecution requested a sentence of two years and six months&#8217; imprisonment.
The defense, however, argued that Akasaki has a mild intellectual disability and had testified that he did not recognize his actions as criminal. While acknowledging that this did not rise to the level of diminished criminal responsibility under Article 39 of Japan&#8217;s Penal Code (which allows reduced punishment for offenders with diminished mental capacity), the defense contended that:
&#8220;The formation of the defendant&#8217;s criminal motive was strongly influenced by the impaired judgment resulting from his intellectual disability.&#8221;
The defense also emphasized that: His family would be able to supervise him in the future. Since being released on bail, he had been receiving treatment at a specialized hospital to help control his sexual impulses.
On that basis, the defense argued that a suspended sentence would be appropriate.
In his final statement, Akasaki said:
&#8220;I&#8217;ve told lies in the past, so from now on I&#8217;ll make sure to speak honestly with the people around me.&#8221;
It left the question of what kinds of lies he felt compelled to acknowledge in open court.
It was also revealed that A and B are now living separately from their mother.
Regarding that fact, Akasaki expressed remorse, saying:
&#8220;I believe my selfish actions are what caused A and B to end up living apart from their mother.&#8221;
The court must now decide what sentence should be imposed on a man who dangled the promise of money to satisfy his own sexual desires and, in the process, tore a mother and her daughters apart.

 Ryo Nakahira

 The sentencing hearing for a man who posted on social media that he would “support single mothers” and, under the pretense of paying the mother money, coerced her into sending obscene videos of her two daughters via video call, will be held on July 8. What “excuses” has the man offered during the trial so far?

He Claimed He Wanted to Help Single Mothers—In Reality, He Was After Nude Images of Their Daughters

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