TOKYO – A Japanese court on April 16 sentenced a former elementary school teacher to two years and six months in prison for taking a lewd picture of a female pupil and sharing it with other teachers in a social media group chat that he had set up.

In handing down the ruling on Yuji Wada, a 42-year-old former teacher at a publicly run elementary school in Nagoya, Judge Mayuko Nishiwaki condemned his actions as “contemptible”. She said he created a “dangerous situation” for the children he was supposed to protect as a teacher.

According to the ruling, Wada secretly took a picture of a then 9-year-old girl that showed her underwear during an off-campus school activity and sent the image via the group chat in September 2024.

Between October 2024 and June 2025, he also left bodily fluids on musical instruments and other items that belonged to seven girls at his home.

Judge Nishiwaki said Wada began using social media out of a sense of loneliness and formed a group with other teachers he met online.

She noted that the defendant acted out of a desire to “share secrets” and that he believed the image would not spread beyond the group as all members risked losing their jobs if exposed. KYODO NEWS