Overview
- Tokyo prosecutors indicted a 39-year-old Ministry of Health section chief on Thursday after he admitted at a June 18 hearing to sending six Microsoft Teams messages to a female colleague and the court set a June 30 sentencing date.
- The indictment alleges the ministry employee illegally duplicated a key, entered the woman’s home in March 2026 and stole underwear and other items, and prosecutors have asked for a two-year custodial sentence.
- The ministry says it warned the employee, banned him from contacting the woman by work chat, has placed him on leave and will decide on disciplinary action after the court’s verdict.
- Separately, Kanagawa police on Thursday arrested a 52-year-old former junior high teacher accused of sending 192 sexually explicit messages to a female student from January 2022 to July 2023; he was dismissed in December 2024 and denies the charges.
- Officials and prosecutors treat both cases as abuses of positional authority that combined digital messaging and physical intrusion, highlighting gaps in workplace and school protections and the lasting harm suffered by victims.