Elementary School Teacher Arrested for the 3rd Time for Sexual Assault

This was indeed the third time this teacher was arrested for repeatedly committing indecent acts against his students.

On April 2, Ken Kawajima, 46, an elementary school teacher in Saitama City, was arrested again on suspicion of rape by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s Investigation Division 1. Kawajima was arrested twice in February and March of this year for filming, with a smartphone, a female student changing into a swimsuit at the school where he worked.

In November of last year, a female student who thought the incident was suspicious contacted the school. The school contacted the police. When the police raided Kawashima’s home, they found nearly 20 photos and videos of the girl on his smartphone. In addition, there were about 1,000 child pornography images stored on his phone that appeared to have been downloaded from the Internet, as reported in the society section of a national newspaper.

The victims of the voyeurism were all girls in Kawashima’s homeroom class.

This is not the only time that Kawashima’s has demonstrated indecent acts. At the elementary school where he used to work, he repeatedly put girls on their knees and touched them. Kawashima’s behavior was viewed as a problem at the school, and according to a report by TBS, he was suspended for three months in 2005. However, this case was dismissed since the police were not consulted at that time.

Reason for arrest just before the statute of limitations

His third arrest was due to rape.

The incident occurred in May of 2012. He called a teenage girl who was a former student at the elementary school where he worked and sexually assaulted her in Saitama Prefecture. Kawashima kept the girl in the dark by saying, “I’m sorry, but I can’t help it.” He has also told her not to tell anyone and it should be a secret between them.

The arrest was triggered by a computer seized from Kawashima’s home. Inside the computer were videos and still images taken when the girl had been sexually assaulted several times in addition to the incident that led to his arrest. The statute of limitations for the prosecution of rape is 10 years. The arrest was made one month before the statute of limitations expired. Kawashima has told the investigators that he has nothing to say about the facts.

According to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, 200 public school teachers were punished for indecent behavior and sexual harassment in FY 2008.
Of these, 96 received severe punishments including disciplinary dismissal. In response to the increasingly serious situation, the “Law on Measures for Indecent Teachers” was enacted in May 2009. Previously, teachers who had been dismissed from their positions were able to reacquire their teaching licenses after three years. However, if a teacher’s license is revoked for indecent behavior, the board of education in each prefecture can now decide whether to reinstate the license or not.

Former Kanagawa Prefectural Police detective and crime journalist Taihei Ogawa explains:

Most teachers take their jobs seriously. But some have a sexual desire for children. For them, school is the perfect place to have contact with children. The victimized child may be traumatized, and parents will not feel safe leaving their children in their care. That’s why teachers who commit indecent acts should be punished severely.

Kawajima’s case is probably just the tip of the iceberg. What we need is a monitoring system to protect the children and their parents so this cannot happen again.