Yomiuri: Underground school sites bring 'sense of power'
For Toru (not his real name), running an underground Web site for students filled him with an intoxicating sense of power that most 15-year-olds could only dream of. "I felt I had a power other people don't have--a sense of almightiness," said Toru, now 18, who once managed about 50 of the sites known as gakko ura-saito in Japanese...Toru started to run an underground site on a free rental message board for cell phones in October 2006...The site manager has the power to delete messages and limit the access of certain users. Toru received e-mails asking him to delete abusive words on the sites about once every three days. One day, he asked, half in jest, the sender of one such e-mail to send a photo of her face for identification purposes. To his astonishment, the sender actually sent her picture. Toru grew elated as he sensed the power a site manager could wield...After he made about 10 girls send him their photos, Toru then went one step further: He demanded a third-year middle school student send him a photo of her wearing only her underwear, saying he would not delete the messages if she refused. Several hours later, after much anguished consideration, the girl sent the photo. Toru said he then realized she would obey whatever orders he gave her. The power rush fueled an escalation in his demands. "[Send me] a photo of your lower body," he wrote. "Next is a nude photo"...He was arrested a month later on suspicion of extortion and violating the law banning child prostitution and child pornography...more...