A former employee in his 30s of a company that operates private after-school childcare services in Tokyo and Kanagawa was arrested and charged with forcible obscenity and other crimes by touching the bodies of multiple children at the facility where he worked. The operating company has not disclosed this fact for more than half a year, and explained to NHK that "the most important thing was to prevent secondary damage to the victims."
This company is Wisdom Academy, which operates after-school children's clubs, so-called after-school childcare, mainly in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
The defendant, Hideki Sato (30), who worked at an after-school childcare center operated by this management company in Tokyo, was accused of forcible indecency by putting his hand inside the pants of three children and touching their bodies from August last year to around February, NHK revealed in an interview.
One of the children has been charged with violating the Child Pornography Prohibition Act for filming his body.
The company operates a total of 8 private after-school childcare centers in Tokyo and three prefectures, including Tokyo and Kanagawa, but has not disclosed the series of incidents to other users of the facility for more than half a year.
One of the parents of the victim said, "I feel very angry because I left my child with the trust of the school children.
In an interview with NHK, the company that operates the incident explained why it has not made the case public, saying, "There are victims who want to avoid making it public, and we believe that it is most important to prevent secondary damage. and so on.
Parents of victims: 'It looks like they are hiding the incident'
A parent whose elementary school son was a victim of this incident told NHK, "I want the incident to be made public and the company to take responsibility."
The interviewees were a couple living in Tokyo, and they chose the after-school childcare operated by this company because there are multiple lessons and there are plenty of pick-up and drop-off services.
When she learned of her son's death, the mother recalled, "I was surprised that such a thing really happened, and at the same time, I felt a strong anger that such a thing could happen because I had entrusted my child with the trust of the schoolchildren."
The father also revealed his painful heart, saying, "My son is still small, and as a parent, it is difficult to see how far he can express his emotions, and he is losing confidence."
The couple said that they felt the need to publicize the situation that the company that operates the after-school childcare service had not disclosed the incident for more than half a year, hoping that it would be seen as a social problem by widely disseminating the sexual abuse involving children.
The mother said, "The school children say that they will not disclose it to protect the privacy of other children, but it seems that they are hiding the incident.