Police in Japan have arrested seven men for allegedly raping their minor daughters and sharing video of the abuse on chat rooms.
The men from Aichi Prefecture, aged between 30 and 50 years, have been accused of sexual assault as well as violations of laws pertaining to sexual exploitation of children, the Mainichi Shimbun reported.
Four of the men are accused of raping their biological or foster daughters and sharing the abuse videos on a social media group. Three other men, who were part of the same chat group, were arrested for allegedly owning obscene images of child abuse. The survivors were between the ages of six and 14.
The accused allegedly shared details of their abuse on the chat and how they "trained" the children since they were as young as three years old. The Aichi police believe the accused regularly sexually abused their daughters and other children.
The chat room was discovered after one of the men was arrested in November 2024 for raping a minor. A subsequent probe of the man's phone revealed the group where photos of child abuse were shared.
The men met each other through an online website and began sharing information, photos and videos around December 2023, according to the Japanese daily. The police are on a lookout for other possible past members of the group.
Japan police in 2023 alerted child welfare centres of a record-high 122,806 suspected abuse victims amid growing concern about the rise in abuse of minors. A cabinet survey revealed that one in 14 women in Japan had experienced forced intercourse, according to reports.
