Stalking the predators

By "BPA"

Societies the world over are being destroyed by evil fiends who prey on the purest and most innocent segment of humankind. Regardless of religious, cultural or educational differences, there can be no acceptance of unlawful or even slightly questionable acts against our children.

Japan is day after day becoming a haven for predators and filth who, due to social ineptitude, mental illness or possession by pure evil, take pleasure in acting out or simulating acts of violence and sexual violation against children. The acid in my gut writhes as I picture them.

The backstreets of Akihabara provide a safe haven for this scourge. In fact, an entire subculture and commercial industry has sprung up because of its existence, one that flourishes as the disease spreads. Japan is stigmatized by the international community because so many of its men are incapable of interacting with females their own age. These “men” are driven, through pure sickness, to force their human desires onto innocent children too young to understand yet old enough to have their lives stolen and their futures severely damaged. Facets of manga culture even encourage adult involvement with children— fantasies are created, illustrated and published to fuel the paraphilia of these pathetic vermin.

As reasonable human beings, each of us must squirm every time we read news of child pornography and sickening crimes against young girls and boys. We live with these fiends among us and we tolerate their existence, make jokes about their crimes, and generally regard them simply as freaks among the human population.

Our society punishes criminals for an innumerable variety of acts, some of which are truly heinous and others which are simply based on legalistic interpretations and arbitrary decisions of what the law should be. Yet there are some things that human beings regardless of creed or color intrinsically feel to be filthy, immoral and illegal, and crimes against our children is one of them.

Street gangs the world over have adopted a zero-tolerance policy against pedophilia and violence against children, and a similar rule often exists within prisons, where child molesters are targeted by other convicts. I cannot always condone such vigilante methods, but in the case of rodents who have stolen the childhood of one of our young, no punishment can ever be sufficient.

When it comes to acts against children, the punishment should fit the crime. The offenders should have their innocence stolen and should be physically prevented from repeating their actions. Castration, amputation of their weapons (i.e. hands), and being forced to live as slaves are all punishments that I would happily inflict on those who hurt kids.

A few years ago, I experienced an ugly incident that caused me to adopt my own no-tolerance policy. I was in Incheon Airport with my family when I saw an odd-looking fellow in a fishing vest taking photos of my daughter. Usually, I am not adverse to people with cameras, and I didn’t interfere. Minutes later I walked past the guy and saw he had a scrapbook in which he was pasting children’s faces onto pornographic images. I immediately kicked the camera out of his hand, stomped on it until it was completely smashed, and cracked the memory stick in half.

The guy didn’t move. Instead, he looked at me, bowed in apology, and ran away. This all happened in the departure lounge in front of about 20 people, and as I went to sit back down with my kids, I could hear others chattering about how the guy was obviously a pedophile and how he was reading dirty magazines and taking photos of people for the last hour or so. Nobody did anything, and I may not have either until he involved my own little girl. From that day on, I vowed to protect all children from anyone looking to harm them.

We can make a better future for all of our kids by simply hitting the problem at its foundations. We should no longer tolerate any glorification of sexual or violent acts against children. When we see people with questionable books or pictures involving children, we should shame them. If we know of people with dubious intentions towards the innocent, we should act to stop them.

Homosexuals, Christians, heathens, Muslims, illegal immigrants, the homeless, rightwing extremists — you are all welcome in my world. But those who exploit and abuse our children, please be warned that your days are numbered.

“BPA” is the loving father of two children. This commentary originally appeared in Metropolis magazine (www.metropolis.co.jp).

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Latest 15 of 39 Total Comments Show All

cwhite at 08:23 PM JST - 19th September

Not sure if you can call this a crime. Maybe if it was a photo stuck on a voodoo doll you could claim black magic, but I can't see how this would be an actual crime. Had he been hiding the fact that he was taking photos or discreetly filming then maybe that would call for something, but even then the media do that all day and every day all over the world for whatever reason and get paid for it.

While I distaste people like him I don't mind the ones who just enjoy photography. I for one love taking photos of nature, buildings, animals and children simply because whatever they are doing is so natural.

In the same situation I would probably snap a few photos of the guy, confront him and ask him about his actions, have him wipe the memory card or have him give it up, make it known that his face will be plastered across multiple internet boards and notify security of his presence. I can see no point in destroying something of his, punching him in the face or screaming at him.

It might be seen unhealthy for these wierdos labeled as paedophiles, but the majority in Japan are harmless, buy the U15 magazines, don't know how to engage with talk to any women their own age and are generally very timid, shy and plain geeks. Basically they are the outcasts like many other eccentric groups who go about doing their own thing. I do believe the culture for Japan vs other countries make for different statistics and child kidnappings and abuse are substantially lower. Mind you a parent must protect their young so watch out wierdos!!
Tim_Fox at 08:34 PM JST - 19th September

Homosexuals, heathens, and right wing extremists said in one breath! I have a real problem with this guy. Always easier to point the finger at others instead of at yourself, right?

In Japan though, the real issue is and has always been the inadequate or lack of psychiatric medical treatment. Unlike the US, social pressures make people believe they will lose face if people admit a psychological problem. Many psychologists and psychiatrists in Japan also do not know how to professionally treat psychological problems. Many people in Japan also turn a blind eye to people who have psychological problems.

I'm not saying the US is better off crime wise because of better mental health facilities, treatment, and societal acknowledgment of these problems - but I would like to say greater openness and less social stygma about mental health problems has in all likelihood averted suicides, violent acts, and curbed some sex offenders from worse or continuing crime.

Social sygma in Japan towards mental health problems has lead to higher level of suicides, and self-destructing salary-man aka Akihabara slasher. One way to address this is to have manditory private counseling sessions for company workers (say once a month - and twice a month for those undergoing greater stress such as family problems - i.e. divorce or a death in the family), not this 1950's McCarthy style pontification we see here written by the concerned but ever-so naive and ignorant concerned parent.
Starviking at 10:23 PM JST - 19th September

Minutes later I walked past the guy and saw he had a scrapbook in which he was pasting children’s faces onto pornographic images. I immediately kicked the camera out of his hand, stomped on it until it was completely smashed, and cracked the memory stick in half.

So, this guy who was taking pictures of kids brought his scrapbook with him so he could work on it during 'down time'. Sounds pretty far-fetched - but let's run with it.

So, he's pasting images into his scrapbook - presumably with two hands - then BPA immediately kicks this guy's camera out of his hand. So, does this paedophile have 3 hands? One camera hand and 2 scrapbook hands?

Sorry, this screams 'made-up story'.
jonobugs at 10:28 PM JST - 19th September

While the intentions of this particular photographer may be have been unsavory, I can't think of any law that he broke. It's understandable that the author just acted on his parenting instincts to protect his child, but the plain truth is that he is the one that broke the law and even admitted this. Just ask any star hounded by paparazzi. As much as you want to, retaliating is not in your best interests.

That said, unfortunately, it's not even against the law to take photos of anyone in public, with or without your permission. Personally, I don't want people taking photos of me in public, but there isn't a thing I can do about it as long as I'm walking the streets. Once in my house (or another non-public area) I have a right to privacy, but that's it.

Maybe in this day and age, it's time that some privacy laws were created, but that really opens a whole new can of worms and I doubt that will happen any time soon.
soothsayer at 11:01 PM JST - 19th September

Rurika,

I find this article rather naive and ill-informed.

Are you not perhaps a little naive yourself? Granted that some pedophiles may have been victims themselves, but if you're looking for a way to break the cycle, then we need to break the criminals. Having been abused yourself may be a reason for your evil, but never an excuse. Counselling is a soft option. We must put these "unfortunates" in gaol where they can do no harm to the innocent. We should keep them there indefinately (Would you raise your hand to have a single one released?). Can you think of a more effective way short of execution or something equally barbaric that would be as sure of breaking the cycle to which yo refer?
cwhite at 11:30 PM JST - 19th September

I have a bigger problem with all the surveillance out there. Anyone wonder who checks the re-runs. Most if not all feel a kind of power when monitoring the world and zooming in on people.
valorsoul23 at 01:19 AM JST - 20th September

I registered after reading the daily emails for months now just to respond to this.

How did the guy taking a picture of his daughter hurt her? It didn't. His reaction to it might have scarred her for life.

"Homosexuals, Christians, heathens, Muslims, illegal immigrants, the homeless, rightwing extremists" wow, this guy is a sick nut job grouping everyone he doesn't like into one sentence just to reinforce the point that he hates pedophiles more than all the other people. Hey man, we all hate pedophiles but we don't have to be violent and illogical like him.

Guys like him are the reason why parents can't even take pictures of their own children in the park playing without some self-righteous person going on the offensive saying how you're violating their childrens' rights by taking pictures of your own children playing.
Eizenhauer at 06:34 PM JST - 20th September

The writer clearly over reacted and made a poor example for his own kids. I don't care if someone takes a picture of my kids, but if i saw somebody trying to walk away with my child i would have probably killed him on the spot, no mercy for child rapers and molesters.
rurika at 10:24 PM JST - 20th September

soothsayer, you misunderstood me. My reaction was against the vigilante approach. I agree 100% that convicted paedophiles should not be released from jail, ever, until we find a treatment for them. This will stop the reoffending problem.

Then, we have to deal with the problem of first-time offenders. How do you detect them? Apparently there are very large numbers of people with such tendencies. The vast majority of them will never harm a child. It's extremely difficult to detect these first-time offenders before it's too late.
studebaker at 12:40 PM JST - 22nd September

An English translation of the laws protecting children is available online. Production and distribution is punished with prison sentences, while possession seems to be perfectly legal. Recently, it was ruled that illustrations of people who look underage engaging in sexual activity is not illegal because it is not harming children. But we all know that what is illegal and what is not illegal is not necessarily what is right and wrong. ahem.

Gluing pictures of children's faces onto pornographic images is not illegal. It is disturbing, wrong and shows a definite problem in the mind of the man. In the apocryphal situation that BPA found himself, smashing the man's camera could have turned into an assault case and the foreigner 'violent offender' would have faced deportation.

This article sounds very much like the instincts of a protective father emerging in written form.

Here is a link to the .pdf file of the law. http://www.cas.go.jp/jp/seisaku/hourei/data/APARCP.pdf
jeancolmar at 09:51 PM JST - 22nd September

A few things. I am trying to visualize the incident at the airport. First the guy photographs the writers daughter. 'Minutes later" the man is with his "scrapbook in which he was pasting children’s faces onto pornographic images." Then the writer "immediately kicked the camera out of his hand, stomped on it until it was completely smashed, and cracked the memory stick in half." The alleged pervert does not do anything until the writer is done with his job. Then he bows and runs away.
jeancolmar at 10:47 PM JST - 22nd September

Excuse me, I pressed the submit button by mistake.

There is an unreality in the telling. Are the faces of the children cut outs? Does the man have scissors and glue? What he is doing would require two hands. Yet he still has the camera in his hand. Does anyone find this strange? Even assuming the children's faces were pre-cut he would still need to hands for this work. Next the writer says he "kicked" the camera out of the man's hand. Can you visualize this? I am imagining someone with the agility of a ballet dancer or a karate expert doing this--maybe. I somehow don't see this guy in that category. His emotions are too out of control. I can see him tearing the camera from the man's hand with his hands. But kicking seems farfetched. And after the camera was completely smashed, the writer "cracked the memory stick in half." By "memory stick" does he mean memory card? Does this guy not know the difference between a memory stick and a card--or are there digital cameras that use sticks. Anyway, I'd think a stick would be destroyed in the stomping. I think it would be hard to crack a memory stick in half but easy with an SD card. Another thing, was the alleged pervert's hand hurt from the kick? It most likely would be.

Next: "The guy didn’t move. Instead, he looked at me, bowed in apology, and ran away." Why did he wait until the writer finished destroying his camera before running away? I find that strange. Imagine you are a guy with a dirty scrap book how has just been assaulted by an angry man. Would you wait around until the person had finished, then take the time to bow, and then--only then--run away. Not hurry away. But run away. I find this the hardest to believe.

And where did the man run to? This happened in a departure lounge. That means he was waiting to depart. Did he miss his plane?

And what happened to the man's scrapbook and the children's pictures? Were some of the cutouts scattered on the floor?

And where was airport security when all this was going on? I cannot believe that in this day and age that airport security was not called. If they weren't in the lounge there were airline personnel around who certainly would have reported a violent incident. Was the writer actually allowed to board after all this.

This is the story of how the writer became the sort of person he is--someone who would castrate and cut off the hands of child molesters and who in so many words threatens to kill them (how else can we read, "But those who exploit and abuse our children, please be warned that your days are numbered.") In this story the angry father gets his own against a man with a dirty scrapbook and a camera and has an epiphany in which he turns into a mental vigilante. I say mental because he provides us with no evidence that he is actually doing anything to fight perverts, like joining a group or something.

To tell you the truth, I don't think this incident took place in the way the writer tells it. It reads too much like very bad creative writing. Even the guy working on his scrapbook while waiting for a plane is weird enough--but okay, weird things happen. The rest of it is beyond the pale.

The man is angry about perverts molesting children: that is clear. Yet, he seems to know nothing about the subject. There is no sense of this guy having done any research.

Something happened to make this man mad. I cannot believe it happened as he told it.
EurajReturns at 12:43 AM JST - 23rd September

So, this guy who was taking pictures of kids brought his scrapbook with him so he could work on it during 'down time'. Sounds pretty far-fetched - but let's run with it.

So, he's pasting images into his scrapbook - presumably with two hands - then BPA immediately kicks this guy's camera out of his hand. So, does this paedophile have 3 hands? One camera hand and 2 scrapbook hands?

Sorry, this screams 'made-up story'.

Perhaps the scrapbook was on the camera. That's what I assumed.
medievaltimes at 11:53 PM JST - 24th September

Jeancolmar -

Great post. I dont believe this story happened as reported...if at all. It sounds inflated and sensationalized.

Curious that the writer didnt use his name.

Effective change would be getting involved with the legal and social service policies associated with this...not pretending to be Steven Segal.
frontandcentre at 09:59 AM JST - 26th September

If "BPA" thinks the world would be a better place by encouraging the general public to attack anyone they suspect to be a paedophile, his kind of world is not one that I'd like to live in.

Children should and must be protected, but Metropolis does us all a disservice by allowing hotheads like this to tub-thump and exaggerate the threat that a very small number of perverts actually pose. There is a law to protect the innocent - the innocent victim OR the innocent and wrongly accused - and that is what should be properly applied.