Filmed upskirt videos at Don Don Donki
The incident happened on the night of April 10, 2022, at the Japanese discount chain’s outlet in Central. A woman in the store felt someone touching her calf and noticed Hara in the vicinity holding his backpack suspiciously.
The woman and her boyfriend followed Hara, and saw him lowering his bag near another female shopper, who was accompanied by her husband.
Realising what Hara was doing, the couples attempted to stop him from leaving the shop. He managed to run away, but dropped two pen cameras. He was eventually arrested by a police officer outside Central Market, near the Don Don Donki store.
Told police he was influenced by pornography
The Hong Kong police found upskirt videos of three women in Hara’s pen cameras, including the two female customers and one unidentified woman.
SCMP reported that Hara told Hong Kong police he filmed women secretly after being influenced by watching porn. He had attached his pen camera to a notebook, which he slotted in his backpack’s side pocket.
Diagnosed with depression
During his hearing, Hara told the court that he had “acted on impulse” due to depression. He was diagnosed with the condition in 2019 during the Covid-19 pandemic’s travel lockdown, and was separated from his wife and daughter in Japan for several years.
The magistrate noted that he would consider imposing a prison sentence, as Hara’s usage of a pen camera “must show that [his actions were] premeditated”, and therefore more severe than other upskirt cases in which the offender used a mobile phone to film.
Hara’s counsel told the court to take into consideration that his client had no record of prior convictions, and only committed the crime as he “did not know how to manage his emotions”.
As the prosecution took over a year to examine the pen camera footage evidence, Hara was only formally charged in August this year, two years after his offence. His lawyer also urged the court to impose a lenient sentence, as Hara had reportedly been under “constant pressure” while waiting for the proceedings.
The chef had also acknowledged that his criminal conviction would result in his job at Tempura Uchitsu being at stake, and he would have a sex offender record.
His sentencing is set for Oct 28. The court magistrate has ordered a probation officer to assess if Hara is fit for serving a community sentence, where he has to perform community service.
