Ex-Yokohama principal arrested for child porn kept 150,000 illicit pics

KANAGAWA (TR) – A former Yokohama junior-high school principal arrested on Wednesday for child pornography in the Philippines was found to have nearly 150,000 illicit images of women in his possession, reports the Kanagawa Shimbun (April 9).

In using a special provision to apply a local law overseas, Kanagawa Prefectural Police took Yuhei Takashima, 64, into custody for taking 11 photos of sexual acts with a teenage girl, estimated to be 13 or 14, in a hotel in Manila in January of 2014. An acquaintance of Takashima in the Philippines introduced him to the girl.

A search of the suspect’s home by investigators revealed approximately 400 albums containing 147,600 photos showing him performing sexual acts with more than 12,700 females.

Takashima, who has been charged with violating the child prostitution and pornography law, has reportedly admitted to the charges, telling police that the photos served as “memories” of the women he encountered overseas. “When I became free from the bounds of morality the sense of liberation was strong,” the suspect is quoted by police.

The suspect estimates that around 10 percent of the females in the images were minors.

According to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and prefectural police, Takashima held a teaching position at a Japanese school in the Philippines for a three-year period that started in 1998. After that, he traveled to the country approximately three times per year for a total of 65 visits.

“This is inexcusable,” said a representative of the Yokohama Board of Education, according to TBS News (March 8). “With a school principal having certain responsibilities, one’s immediate and honest feeling after hearing about these acts is disbelief.”

During his career, Takashima served as vice-principal and principal at a number of schools in Yokohama. After retirement from education in 2011, the suspect served as the editor-in-chief of an educational research publication in Yokohama until March of this year.

The education board is now seeking the return of a payment of 30-million-yen retirement payment made to Takashima.