Police Officer Stealing Women's Underwear from Vacant Houses near Fukushima Nuclear Plant... "I'll Find a New Hobby"

Patrolling 'Gwihwan Gollan District' and Stealing Underwear
"Treatment for Underwear Obsession Important" Suspended Sentence Ruling

A suspended prison sentence was handed down to a police officer in his 30s who stole underwear from evacuated women while going through vacant houses in areas where access was restricted due to radioactive contamination caused by the explosion at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

On the 30th, the Fukushima District Court in Japan sentenced former police officer Kimoto Yu (39) to two years in prison with a three-year suspension.

A police officer in his 30s who stole underwear from evacuated women by going around vacant houses in areas where access was restricted due to radioactive contamination from the explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan was sentenced to a suspended prison term. The photo is unrelated to the specific content of the article. [Photo by EPA·Yonhap News]

Kimoto, who was serving as a sergeant (equivalent to a police sergeant in Korea) in the Disaster Countermeasures Division of the Fukushima Prefectural Police, is accused of entering vacant houses in the "Difficult-to-Return Zones" such as Tomiokamachi and Okumamachi, where residents' access is still restricted due to radioactive contamination from the Fukushima nuclear accident, and stealing 29 items including women's underwear last October.

At the trial, Kimoto stated his motive for the crime, saying, "My life felt worthless due to my ex-wife's violence and divorce, and being cut off by a new woman I was seeing, which led me to a state of despair."

The prosecution demanded a two-year prison sentence, saying, "This is a malicious crime that trampled on the hearts of victims in evacuation by abusing the status of a police officer."

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

In response, the court said, "He used his knowledge and position as a police officer to damage the trust in the entire police force," but added, "Considering his remorseful attitude and the fact that he has already faced social sanctions such as disciplinary dismissal, we sentence him with a suspended prison term."

Judge Miura Takaaki advised, "It is most important for defendant Kimoto himself to consider how to resolve his obsession with women's underwear."

After receiving the suspended sentence, Kimoto told the media, "I will seek psychiatric treatment, exercise, or find new hobbies."

Meanwhile, the "Difficult-to-Return Zones" around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant are defined as areas where the annual radiation exposure exceeds 50 millisieverts (mSv). Not only is residence impossible, but entry is also prohibited without permission. Except for the Fukushima nuclear plant site itself, this is the area most severely contaminated by radioactive materials from the accident at that time.