A former middle school teacher was sentenced to two years and six months in prison on Thursday for secretly filming female students as they changed at the school where he worked. The Nagoya District Court handed the prison term to Yuta Suzuki, 33, who had admitted the charges.
Three years ago, Suzuki used a spare key to enter a pool changing room at the middle school in Ibaraki Prefecture, where he was employed at the time, and placed a watch-style camera inside, according to the indictment. He used the footage to make videos of the girls changing.
Judge Mayuko Nishiwaki said the crime betrayed the trust placed in teachers, and that his aim of satisfying a desire for approval warranted strong condemnation. Prosecutors had sought three years and six months.
The case turned on access rather than intrusion from outside: the camera was carried in and the door opened by someone the school had already admitted.