NAGOYA -- The Aichi Prefectural Police had arrested seven men as of March 11 on allegations including raping their daughters or stepdaughters and filming the assaults to share on social media, the Mainichi Shimbun has learned.

Investigative sources revealed that the seven men, aged in their 30s to 50s and living in Aichi Prefecture and elsewhere, stand accused of penetrative sexual assault as well as violations of anti-child prostitution and anti-child pornography laws. Four of the men allegedly filmed the scenes of them sexually assaulting their biological or foster daughters, aged between 6 and 14 at the time, and shared the footage within a social media group, while the other three owned obscene images of underage individuals.

In the messaging app used by the group, there were comments reading, "I've trained her since she was 3," "Just telling her, 'If you tell your mom, you wouldn't be able to be with your dad. Can you keep a secret?' worked for me," and, "Because my wife is away on a trip." The prefectural police believe that the men continued to sexually abuse their own daughters and others on a regular basis.

In November last year, one of the men was arrested on suspicion of penetrative sexual assault of an underage person, and a probe of his mobile phone revealed that the group was sharing obscene videos.

It is thought that the group, comprised of men fond of incest with minors, started exchanging information in around December 2023. The seven suspects came to know each other through another online website, and one of them managed the chat group in question. The police suspect that several other men had joined the group, and are continuing to investigate the case.

(Japanese original by Richi Tanaka, Nagoya News Department)