The Nagoya District Court on the 6th sentenced a 43-year-old man to three years in prison, suspended for five, for filming a 3-year-old girl as she bathed at a lodging facility in Nagasaki Prefecture and sharing the video with a middle school teacher and others over social media.
Hiroshi Yoshiura, 43, unemployed and living in Nagasaki Prefecture, was convicted of filming the girl in September last year and sending the video data to the teacher, who is in Ibaraki Prefecture, and others over social media. Prosecutors had sought a three-year prison term, and the defense did not contest the charges.
Judge Kentaro Hirate called the offense "vile, with a marked habitual nature," but cited compensation paid to the victim and the start of treatment for a sexual disorder in granting the suspension.
The ruling leaves Yoshiura free unless he reoffends during the five-year period. It also means the man who filmed the child and the teacher who received the footage will not serve prison time for their part, a lenient outcome for material involving a 3-year-old victim.