Tokyo —
Ayaka was 6 years old the first time she did panty shots.
Her swimming teacher had been targeting children for over a decade, taking illegal photos and videos of her genitals. He then shared the image with other pedophiles in a Telegram group. They appreciated the content and called him “God.”
Ayaka’s father, Suzuki (both names have been changed to protect their privacy), first learned his daughter had been targeted two years ago when police called him. Some of the images showed her face and name, making her easy to identify.
“My wife and I encouraged her to join that swimming school, and we thought it would be a fun experience for her,” he told CNN.
“I am ashamed that I put my daughter in that situation. I am angry at the man who committed the crime. I will never forgive him.”
Japan’s panty shot crisis
Ayaka is never alone. She is one of countless victims of panty shots and voyeurism, a crime that has long plagued Japan.
Warning posters are often posted at stations and public buildings in Japan. All smartphones sold in Japan are required to emit a shutter sound when taking photos or videos, an industry measure aimed at preventing unauthorized photography. In 2023, Japan also introduced a nationwide law banning “photo voyeurism” as part of a broader review of its sexual crimes laws. Previously, such cases were prosecuted under a patchwork of different local ordinances across the country.
Despite years of efforts to curb this crime, it remains one of the most common sex crimes in Japan. In 2025, police will make 9,237 arrests nationwide for voyeurism crimes, a record high. Authorities attribute the increase in part to new laws that expand the scope of the crime. The proliferation of smartphones has made it easier than ever to commit and repeat crimes.
But what’s changing is who’s running it.
Traditionally, the perpetrators have been adults, but there are now more and more cases in which children themselves are the perpetrators. According to police data, the number of reported incidents of voyeurism involving minors jumped nearly six times in 2024 compared to the previous year, and rose again in 2025.
“I was shocked to learn that something like this was happening at a school,” Sumire Nagamori, a cybersecurity expert and children’s rights activist, told CNN. “The perpetrator could be a classmate, and their images could be leaked online.”
In chat rooms on social media platforms Telegram and Discord seen by CNN, users are posting “teasers” of child sexual abuse content. One video advertises a long clip of an abused toddler for less than $3. Some users claim to be junior high school students or junior high school students and want to take photos of their classmates or siblings.
CNN has reached out to Discord and Telegram for a statement regarding the findings.
Telegram said its moderation systems remove millions of pieces of harmful content, including non-consensual pornography, every month. It also emphasized its “huge efforts” against child sexual abuse content, including removing more than 260,000 related groups and channels in 2026 alone.
Discord didn’t respond.
Nagamori says several factors are driving this troubling trend. Smartphones give young people constant access to cameras and online content, making it easier for copycats to spread.
“Young children are being given access to digital devices before they are taught ethics or digital literacy,” she says. “Before they can tell the difference between right and wrong, they already have tools they can use to harm others.”
At Daisuke Nakamura’s clinic, where state-appointed psychotherapists treat people convicted of voyeurism, the number of underage patients is increasing.
“When I opened this clinic 15 years ago, most of my clients were middle-aged men,” he told CNN. “Now we’re seeing more middle school, high school, and college students.”
Some are even younger.
“My youngest customers are 13 or 14 years old, and sometimes we have elementary school students come in,” he said.
The trend comes as experts warn that Japan’s legal framework is struggling to catch up with the realities of digital sexual abuse.
Under current law, child sexual abuse material is usually prosecuted under Japan’s child pornography law. But critics say gaps remain. The law only applies if a child’s genitals are visible, so some types of sexually abusive content may fall outside its scope. Experts told CNN that such loopholes could significantly reduce penalties for violators.
Japan is also introducing a new sex offender registry that will allow employers in jobs that involve children, such as schools, to check whether a prospective employee has been convicted of a child sexual abuse crime. However, unlike in the United States, this database is not accessible to the general public.
To better understand what drives young people to commit these crimes, CNN spent months searching for ex-convicts willing to share their stories. Kimura, now 19 years old, was one of those who agreed to give a lecture. He has also been asked to use a pseudonym.
Kimura said that when she was 15 years old, she became interested in porn that depicts staged scenarios. After months of looking at it, he wanted to try it himself.
At age 17, he says he targeted his first victim, a girl riding an escalator on a train platform.
“I made it through without getting caught and felt that excitement afterwards, so I wanted to feel that excitement again,” he told CNN.
The following year, he targeted approximately 30 more victims. He said he only stopped when police caught him trespassing on private property to steal someone’s underwear from a clothesline.
“If I hadn’t been caught then, I might have raped someone within a year or two,” he admitted.
Kimura has since undergone mandatory crime prevention programs and re-education, and said he deeply regrets his actions.
“I’m really sorry…I’m able to live a normal life now, but I feel like I have to make sure I never forget what I did,” he said.
Ayaka’s swimming instructor was found guilty of secretly filming multiple child victims and sentenced to four years in prison. Half of his sentence has already been served, and Suzuki fears the day he will be released.
“People say Japan is very safe, but now I wonder how much crime is happening in places we can’t see,” he said.
For perpetrators, panty shots are crimes that take seconds and often go unnoticed. But for the countless victims it perpetrated, it will leave a permanent digital scar – one that Suzuki fears will haunt Ayaka for years.
“The perpetrators can pay for their crimes, but my daughter will have to live with these videos for the rest of her life,” he said.
“I believe that children are a treasure, not just to this country, but to everyone. So I think it’s our job to figure out how to protect them,” he said.
