Police uncovered record 1,023 child porn cases in 1st half of year

September 15, 2016 (Mainichi Japan)

Police departments across the country built up criminal cases against 742 people in a record 1,023 child porn incidents in the first half of 2016, the National Police Agency (NPA) said.

The number of such incidents and the individuals who faced charges over these cases represent a 23 percent and 13 percent increase from a year earlier, respectively, and both figures were the largest in history.

In these cases, 781 children were victimized, an increase of 103 percent from the corresponding period of last year and also the largest number in history.

The sharp increases in these figures are attributable largely to three incidents in which about 280 people were secretly photographed at baths.

Of the 781 children, 338 fell victim to secret photographing and filming incidents, 239 were lured into sending photos of their own bodies, 100 were victimized in child prostitution and similar incidents and 45 others were raped or sexually assaulted in other ways.

Among 239 children who were lured into sending photos of their own bodies, 135 were junior high school children, 83 were high school students and 16 were enrolled in elementary schools. Of these, 79 percent sent their own images to someone they had never met, well above the 13 percent who sent their photos to friends or acquaintances and 8 percent who did so to their current or former boyfriends or girlfriends.