“Those who watch anime become criminals” said a teacher who was arrested after becoming a criminal

“Those who watch anime become criminals,” Fumiya Kosemura used to say in his youth, and how ironic it is that he would become a criminal years later. The Japanese police recently revealed a group of teachers caught with child voyeurism material, causing national outrage. Among those involved is Fumiya Kosemura, 37, who worked as a teacher at an elementary school in Yokohama.

The case began to unfold after the arrest of another teacher, Shota Suito, who spilled semen on a 15-year-old girl at a station in Nagoya in January of this year. He later faced additional charges for having smeared semen on the recorder of a student at the school where he worked, as well as having mixed semen in the school lunch.

During the investigation, it was discovered that about ten teachers were part of a secret group that exchanged images and videos of students in compromising situations, most of which were captured during work hours.

“Those who watch anime become criminals” said a teacher who was arrested after becoming a criminal

Because of the scandalous crime, Japanese newspapers went after acquaintances of the culprits, one of whom was Fumiya Kosemura. Fumiya’s classmates were interviewed and what was discovered about his youth is a bit bizarre.

According to a former classmate of Fumiya, he was an outgoing and athletic young man, the popular one at school, and he despised anime and used to make fun of those who liked anime at school, even telling otakus that “Those who watch anime become criminals”.

According to his former classmates, Fumiya completely despised animes like Sakura Card Captor and Love Hina (which were popular animes at the time) and he only talked about soccer in his youth.

A graduate of an elite school in Kanagawa, he was called “Kose” by everyone and had a public image of a good guy. According to reports, he appeared to have no interest in sexual matters and had no relationships during high school. The discovery of his involvement in the group of teachers caught with voyeuristic material caused shock even among his former friends.

Investigation Shakes the Education System

The group had been operating for at least a year. During the searches, about 70 records involving underage students were found. Most of the images were taken inside the schools themselves, during working hours. The Minister of Education, Toshiko Abe, said she felt “deep indignation” about the case and demanded immediate action.

In response, Yokohama issued an emergency order for about 500 schools in the city to check for the presence of suspicious devices. In Nagoya, an independent commission will be created in July to investigate more than 12,000 public school employees.

Teachers Concealed Disturbing Behavior

Despite maintaining the image of ordinary professionals, those involved in the group were hiding criminal practices. Yokohama Board of Education officials said there was no history of complaints or suspicious behavior among teachers, making the case all the more concerning.

via Yahoo News