A former counsellor at the Singapore embassy returned to Japan in June to be questioned by police over allegations he secretly took images of a naked schoolboy at a public bath in Tokyo, police said on Thursday.
Sim Siong Chye, a 55-year-old former counsellor who had been asked by police to appear for questioning after he left Japan, was referred to prosecutors on Thursday for allegedly violating laws related to taking sexual images and the production of child pornography.
Sim has mostly admitted to the allegations and was quoted by police as saying he could not control himself after seeing the boy naked. He also said he reflected on his conduct and came to Japan to speak from the standpoint of a civilian, according to police and other sources.
It is rare for a diplomat to comply with a police request to come back to Japan for questioning over criminal allegations after returning to their country.
He is suspected of using his smartphone to capture images of the secondary school student in a bathhouse dressing room in Tokyo’s Minato ward on February 27 while he was serving as a counsellor at the embassy, the police said.
A staff member at the bathhouse reported him to the police who asked him to undertake voluntary questioning but he rejected the request, despite admitting that he took the images. As a diplomat, he was immune to arrest while in Japan.
Some images were found on the former counsellor’s smartphone that were believed to have been taken by him. He also said he had secretly taken photos several times at multiple facilities, including the public bath.
Sim, currently an official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Singapore, returned home in mid-April after the tenure for his posting ended.
