Your Name’s Producer Arrested On Child Pornography Charges
CoMix Wave Films production is a pioneer in the anime industry and is responsible for producing some of the biggest Makoto Shinkai works, including “Your Name”, “Weathering With You”, and “Suzume”. However, in a shocking turn of events, one of the producers behind these blockbuster films has been arrested for encouraging child pornography.
On February 21, the Japanese Police arrested 52-year-old producer Koichiro Itou on suspicion of violating the Child Prostitution & Pornography Prohibition Act. The police reported that Itou solicited nude images from a 15-year-old high school girl, who he met on an SNS platform.
According to the police, the incident took place in September 2021 when Itou coerced the female student to send her nude selfies, despite being aware of the fact that she was a minor. Additionally, the producer allegedly paid the minor girl 12,500 yen (about US$83) in electronic money to get the explicit images.
The police further reported that Itou’s actions came to light during the investigation of another child prostitution case. After being taken into custody, Itou admitted to the charges and confessed that he had similar exchanges with underage women several times in the past.
Koichiro Itou entered the anime industry at the age of 28 and has been a producer on many of director Makoto Shinkai’s works at CoMix Wave, including his second film “The Place Promised in Our Early Days”, “The Garden of Words”, record-breaking “Your Name”, “Weathering With You” and recent hit “Suzume”.
The police are now further investigating the matter to discover if there were more victims of child pornography as more images and videos were found in Itou’s possession. As the investigation unfolds and more details emerge, both the industry veterans and fans are appalled by the news.
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Via: Mainichi
