Japan High School Ballplayers Suspected of Spreading Obscene Images

Tokyo, Feb. 12 (Jiji Press)–Tokyo police are planning to send papers on two members of Third Senior High School of Nihon University’s baseball team to prosecutors on charges including making a female student send obscene images, investigative sources said Thursday. Of the two, a 17-year-old member is suspected of having a 15-year-old female acquaintance send him a total of three obscene videos or images between March and April last year, in violation of the child prostitution and child pornography prohibition law, according to the sources. The other member, 16, is suspected of receiving one of these videos between April and October of the same year and forwarding it to another student. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the possibility that the video may have been disseminated to dozens of people. During voluntary questioning, the two members told the MPD that they did something they should not have done and that they deeply regret their reckless actions. This case came to light when a parent of the female student consulted with the MPD about the possible spread of the student’s videos. The baseball team of the high school in western Tokyo is known as a powerhouse, having competed in the prestigious “Koshien” national high school baseball championships a total of 40 times across both spring and summer tournaments. The team won the summer championships in 2001 and 2011 and the spring tournament in 1971. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]