618 children victims of child porn in Japan in 2010

Feb 24, 2011, 6:47 GMT

Tokyo - The number of children falling victim to child pornography producers rose of 52.6 per cent in 2010 to 618, the highest figure since the Japanese National Police Agency started compiling data, the agency said Thursday.

The victims included 93 primary school pupils and 33 preschoolers, the agency said.

Some 1,342 cases of production and selling of pornographic material involving children under 18 were sent to the public prosecutors, up 43.5 per cent from 2009. Of the cases, 783 involved the use of the internet.

Among the 926 arrests made in 2010 was a 26-year-old man and six others who were arrested in June for violating the law banning child prostitution and child pornography, the agency said. They allegedly set up commercial sites on the internet where they sold child porn DVDs.

The agency also said a 47-year-old man was arrested a year ago for producing child porn with indecent photos he took at a hotel in China.

Read more about Japan Crime