Chiba Prefecture's board of education has dismissed two prefectural public school teachers for indecent behavior involving juveniles, while taking disciplinary action against two other teachers.
One of the dismissed teachers was arrested for violating a prefectural juvenile protection ordinance, while the other, a local high school teacher, was arrested for alleged obscene behavior.
According to the education board, a 35-year-old special-needs school teacher, whose name has not been disclosed, molested a girl in June after meeting her through an online dating site.
The board also said that a 30-year-old teacher at one of prefectural public high schools is believed to have molested a high school girl at his home earlier this month. The incident came to light after the board police spotted him together with the girl and questioned him for suspicious behavior, prompting the board to investigate.
As for the two teachers who were disciplined, one was a municipal elementary school teacher, the board said. He was suspended from school for six months for sending a threatening letter to the education board of the city of Noda and other institutions, urging them to stop holding classes on Saturdays. The prefecture's Matsudo Summary Court tried the man on blackmail charges and ordered him to pay a ¥300,000 fine.
The prefecture has also suspended a 26-year-old high school teacher for three months for allegedly misusing about ¥2.3 million of the school's funds.