"I'll Change Your Face with AI"... Japanese Man Filmed and Sold Sex Videos with Middle School Student

About 1,700 Adult Videos Found at His Home
Estimated Profit of Around 100 Million Won from Video Sales

The head of a Japanese entertainment agency has been arrested on charges of filming and selling videos of sexual acts with a middle school student.

Japanese Police. Photo is not directly related to the article content. National Police Agency of Japan

On January 8, local media outlets including the Asahi Shimbun reported that a man in his 50s, identified as Mr. A, the head of an entertainment agency located in Shibuya, Tokyo, was arrested on charges including child prostitution, non-consensual sexual intercourse, and violation of the Act on Regulation and Punishment of Acts Relating to Child Prostitution and Child Pornography. He was also charged with violating the Act on Prevention and Relief for Victims of Performances in Adult Videos, enacted in June 2022, which requires producers and distributors of videos to provide a contract specifying the sexual acts to be filmed to all performers, regardless of age or gender. Violation of this law is punishable by up to six months in prison or a fine of up to 1 million yen (approximately 920,000 won).

Previously, in July last year, Mr. A had sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old middle school student at a hotel in Kabukicho, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Investigations revealed that Mr. A was aware the victim was under 16 years old and gave her 40,000 yen (about 370,000 won) in cash before engaging in sexual acts.

Furthermore, Mr. A filmed the sexual encounter with the female student. It was found that he persuaded the victim by saying, "I will use artificial intelligence (AI) to change your face, so please allow me to record the video." However, in reality, almost no editing was done, making the victim easily identifiable, and Mr. A sold the video without the victim's consent, only concealing his own face.

This case came to light as the Metropolitan Police Department took the runaway victim into protective custody. Investigations showed that since around July last year, Mr. A had repeatedly approached women in Kabukicho or lured them via social networking services (SNS) to film adult videos in the same manner.

After arresting Mr. A, police searched his residence. There, they discovered a hard disk containing approximately 1,700 adult videos featuring women estimated to be in their teens or twenties, in addition to the video involving the victim in this case.

It was found that Mr. A had been selling these videos online for 5,000 yen each (about 46,000 won). He is estimated to have earned over 10 million yen (approximately 9.2 million won) from the illegal sale of such videos between January and October last year.

However, Mr. A reportedly denied some of the charges, claiming that he believed the victim was "18 years old." The police are continuing their investigation into Mr. A and are looking into the possibility of additional victims.