A man in his late 20s sat before the witness stand in a Tokyo District Courtroom in late July and spoke in a small voice. "To put it frankly, I fell in love with her," he said.
The man, a teacher at a public junior high school, was tried on charges including non-consensual intercourse for sexually assaulting a female student he had taught. Questioned by the defense, he looked back on what he called a relationship with her.
"I couldn't stop myself as my feelings of love grew," he said. "I thought that when she became an adult, I would go out with her with marriage in mind."
The student's mother gave a statement to the court, her voice shaking. "My daughter, who was wearing a school backpack until just the other day, was robbed of the adolescence an ordinary junior high school student would have. I will never forgive the defendant for as long as I live."
A relationship that began with him as her homeroom teacher
According to questioning at trial and the ruling, the man was the student's homeroom teacher in her first and second years and also advised her club activity.
From around the summer of 2023, when the student was in her second year, they communicated on LINE and began meeting at his home. "Feelings of love toward each other sprouted," he said.
"I felt guilty that if this were found out, we could never go back, but I couldn't bend my feelings either." Despite that guilt, he confessed his feelings, and what he described as a relationship began that November.
Sex acts filmed at his apartment
As the relationship continued, the man had sex with the student multiple times at his apartment and sometimes filmed it. Asked by the prosecutor whether he had hesitated to have sex with her as a teacher, he answered calmly.
"At first I hesitated, but I couldn't stop myself as my feelings of love grew."
A seized computer held 327 still images and 129 video clips of the student. He explained why he filmed: "I wanted to record the exchanges of a couple going out. I didn't think deeply about her feelings."
"I'll expose the photos"
When the student tried to end the relationship, the man flew into a rage and threatened to expose the photos, according to the ruling.
The presiding judge condemned his conduct, saying it was unthinkable.
Sexual violence by teachers against students continues at schools that are supposed to be safe for children. Experts point to a "cognitive distortion" behind such cases.