Police bust online paedophile ring involving school teachers in Japan

Japanese police have uncovered what’s being described as an “online paedophile group” involving at least a dozen teachers, following the arrest of two primary school educators accused of taking and sharing explicit images of young girls.

The suspects, Yuji Moriyama (42), a teacher at Kosaka Elementary School in Nagoya, and Fumiya Kosemura (37), of Hongodai Elementary in Yokohama, were arrested on Tuesday, June 18. 

Authorities say Moriyama possessed over 70 illicit photos and videos, including upskirt shots and disturbing “deepfake” images where children’s faces were superimposed onto sexual content, Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun reported.

Investigators believe Moriyama ran a private online group composed mainly of primary and junior high school teachers, who shared a sexual interest in very young girls. 

Police say the indecent material may have been taken within school grounds, prompting a full sweep of Kosaka Elementary for hidden cameras.

The scandal has caused nationwide uproar, with Nagoya’s Tokai TV airing a special on the case as over 100 parents gathered for an emergency meeting. 

“My child may have been a victim,” one mother said tearfully. “Where should I direct my anger when there is no way to confirm this?”

Education authorities and school heads have since issued public apologies.

The case has also brought renewed attention to Japan’s lack of a national background check system for school workers. 

On Thursday, Minister for Children Junko Mihara convened a new committee under the Children and Families Agency, calling child sex crimes “outrageous and unforgivable.” 

A long-awaited disclosure system — similar to the UK’s Disclosure and Barring Service — is expected to receive government funding next fiscal year. 

In the interim, a new Child Protection Law will take effect this December 2025.

Still, critics say reforms fall short. 

Fujiko Yamada, founder of the Child Maltreatment Centre in Kanagawa, warned that the system may fail to flag offenders not formally prosecuted.

He cited that there’s a serious loophole as a person investigated but never convicted doesn’t have to disclose anything, exposing children to risk.

With public trust shaken and legal safeguards still patchy, experts and parents alike are demanding faster, tougher reforms to keep predators out of classrooms.

Yamada pointed to a number of similarly horrific cases.

In a disturbing case reported by Shueisha News Magazine, 34-year-old teacher Shota Mizuto was arrested in March after allegedly spraying bodily fluids onto the backpack of a 15-year-old girl while at a train station in Nagoya.

But the situation got even more appalling.

A forensic check of Mizuto’s mobile phone uncovered evidence suggesting he had previously contaminated students’ lunches with his own bodily fluids and even sprayed the substance on the mouthpiece of a child’s recorder.

His first court hearing is set for July, as the case continues to shock parents and educators across Japan.