MAP Forum

Two members of the Nihon University Third high school baseball team in Machida, Tokyo, were referred to prosecutors on Thursday for their suspected involvement in distributing obscene videos of an underage girl.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department referred the two to the Tachikawa branch of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office on suspicion of violating the child prostitution and child pornography prohibition law.

The students allegedly talked the girl into sending obscene videos of herself and subsequently distributed the footage. Then, the footage was allegedly shared among dozens of team members. The school, one of the most prominent baseball powerhouses in the nation, is now expected to be held accountable for its management of the situation.

The school was runner-up at last summer’s National High School Baseball Championship held at Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture. The videos are believed to have started circulating even before the tournament began.

Investigative sources said one student allegedly convinced the girl to send obscene images and videos of herself via social media on three occasions between March and April last year. That member is then suspected of sending one of the videos to another teammate between April and June.