Former S’pore embassy staff to be summoned before Japanese court for voyeurism involving a minor while on duty

A counselor at the Singapore Embassy in Japan who admitted to secretly filming a child in a public toilet in Tokyo, among other acts of voyeurism, will be summoned to appear before a Japanese court, Japanese media reported on May 2.

The 55-year-old, who has not been named, has since left the foreign service. A counselor is a diplomatic rank for experienced foreign service officers.

He was caught using a smartphone to film a naked teenager in the men’s locker room of a public bathroom on February 27, Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported.

The incident was reported to the police by an employee of the bathhouse in the Minato neighborhood of Tokyo, where the Singapore embassy is located.

Investigators searching the man’s phone found images of the boy naked, as well as images of several male patrons that appeared to have been taken in the bathroom’s communal locker room.

The man admitted to investigators that he had also surreptitiously taken photographs in other public toilets, with at least 700 images taken over a six-month period.

On February 27, the man introduced himself to police officers as a diplomat and refused to go to a police station, telling them he would answer questions at the bathhouse, where he admitted to filming five times in the past.

He also refused to hand over his smartphone to police, but deleted photos of the boy he had taken that night at the request of the student’s parents. The man was not charged.

The high school student was 13 years old, Japanese national broadcaster NHK reported.

Japanese media have contacted the embassy for a response.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department will ask the man to appear before a Japanese court, NHK reported, and police will consider pressing charges against him for violating child pornography laws.

Police have evidence they will provide to prosecutors, according to Japanese media.

According to NHK, the police will file the court request through Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as the man had immunity from arrest in Japan as a diplomat.

The Straits Times has contacted Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment.