They investigate a network that recorded thousands of women in hot springs in Japan for 30 years

Japanese authorities are investigating a network of people dedicated to taking photos and videos without consent in outdoor thermal baths, and that it is estimated that he captured images of some 10,000 women over 30 years.

The Shizuoka court, in charge of the investigation, decided yesterday to fine a man with 100,000 yen (700 euros) for taking “stolen” photos in a “roten-buro” or open-air baths in the city of Hyogo in March 2020, in the last of the legal measures related to this network and collected by the local media.

The 31-year-old man, a high-ranking official at the national intelligence agency, is one of those so far sixteen detainees that they supposedly formed a group led by a suspect identified as Karin Saito.

He leader of this alleged voyeuristic networkwho was arrested at the end of 2021, faces charges of attacking public decency and is awaiting trial, while others involved could also be accused of violating laws against child pornography, according to the Japanese newspaper. Asahi.

Saito would have shared his techniques for taking photos and videos without the consent of his victims with the rest of the group members, who also held meetings to view your “stolen” materialaccording to the details that have emerged from the investigation.

His modus operandi included hiding in mountainous places located hundreds of meters from the open-air thermal baths and recording or photographing the women. using cameras with telephoto lenses.

The Japanese authorities believe that the members of the group came to take pictures of at least 10,000 women over the course of three decades. The sixteen detainees, including employees of national and local government agencies as well as senior business officials, come from eleven different prefectures.

The police investigation remains open and could lead to additional arrests. Japan has more than 3,000 hot spring complexesincluding many located in natural settings such as the mountains or the coast, and which have “roten-buro” protected with walls or vegetation to safeguard the privacy of bathers.