Man jailed for videotaping roommate in Gardena

DAILY BREEZE ^ | Publish Date:September 27, 2003 | By Denise Nix

[GirlyGirl2003]

Man jailed for videotaping roommate in Gardena

By Denise Nix DAILY BREEZE

A Japanese national is serving 180 days behind bars for secretly videotaping his female roommate while she showered and used the toilet in Gardena.

Yasuhiro Ryoki, 35, who is in the country on a visa, was convicted by a Torrance Superior Court jury Sept. 19 of three misdemeanor charges of invasion of privacy by a camera.

Judge Michael Vicencia sentenced Ryoki on Wednesday to county jail, 36 months of probation and ordered him to not own or possess any photographic equipment. Vicencia also ordered Ryoki to register as a sex offender.

Deputy District Attorney John Harlan said Friday that the judge’s order that Ryoki register as a sex offender was done at Vicencia’s own discretion, since the misdemeanor does not require it.

If a judge feels the crime was motivated by sexual compulsion or gratification, the law says he can require the registration, Harlan said.

Harlan said he did not know how the conviction would affect Ryoki’s immigration status.

Ryoki, who is bilingual, was working as an information technology specialist for a high-tech firm in Gardena when he met the victim through mutual friends.

The 22-year-old Japanese woman was in the U.S. on a work visa, Gardena police detective Russell Temple said.

The woman needed a place to stay and Ryoki, who was living in an apartment on 169th Street rent free, offered her his spare room.

She moved in in mid-December, Temple said.

After living there a few months, the woman noticed something shiny next to a flower pot in the bathroom.

“She pulls the plant out and it’s a camera,” Temple said.

The woman called a friend over and they searched her bedroom, finding another camera.

They called the police, who returned with a search warrant, Temple said. Officers found another camera in the bathroom below the toilet pointing up and a wireless surveillance system in Ryoki’s room, Temple said.

Ryoki was arrested Jan. 5.

Officers seized about 150 videotapes, which included footage of the woman showering and using the bathroom, and her25-year-old sister showering, made when she and other family members visited.

During the trial, the woman, who flew from Japan to testify, became emotional on the witness stand and said the experience left her devastated and sleepless, according to Temple.

Simon Hiller, Ryoki’s attorney, argued that the woman knew about the taping and was OK with it.

“We felt very strongly that Mr. Ryoki had no criminal intent and that he believed that he had permission to do so from the complaining witness,” Hiller said. “Now she says something different.”

The woman has a civil suit pending against Ryoki, too.

Temple said such crimes are a threat to public safety.

Publish Date:September 27, 2003

[GirlyGirl2003]

In this case, does the punishment fit the crime, or does the judge here seem to be way over the edge? It seems to me that for awhile now, some judges just go nuts when an unusual case comes along. In this instance I think the judge ruined this mans life over what the law defines as a minor crime. This kind of heavy handedness will only add to the already present anger agaist government spying on citizens, and in due time, there will be a judicial backlash.

[Prodigal Son]

He got 180 days in jail. Our soldiers have been in Iraq that long. How is this ruining his life? Or am I missing something here?

[ppaul]

Pics?

[TheWriterInTexas]

Over the edge?

Nope. Not in my opinion.

He violated her privacy. If some creep did this to my little girl, his trip to the woodshed wouldn't be pretty, I'll tell you that. He's be forced to operate his camera from a hospital bed.

[GirlyGirl2003]

He is now listed as a sex offender, and has to place a sign in his yard for the rest of his life. Seems very heavyhanded to me especially when you consider the fact that there is some chance she was going along with his game. Plus hes no longer allowed to own any video eqpt. No more vacation/family/birthday pictures...The judge just seems to have gone way too far with this case. Fine him for the misdemeanor, and put him on six months probation. Thats all. He had no prior record.

[Prodigal Son]

He is now listed as a sex offender, and has to place a sign in his yard for the rest of his life.

LOL. First, he is a sex offender. Second, he has no right to be in the US- he is there at our humour. If he doesn't like it he can move on to the next place or simply back home.

You know- I can guarantee NONE of this would have happened to him if he hadn't been making his dirty little tapes.

[clee1]

I say let him complete his jail sentence, then deport him. He is a foreign national, and now a registered sex offender. It is no longer convenient or desirable that he remain here.

He's really lucky that the victim wasn't my daughter.

[Lazamataz]

He got 180 days in jail. Our soldiers have been in Iraq that long. How is this ruining his life? Or am I missing something here?

Yeah but the difference is our soldiers get to blow stuff up.

[malia]

Who is paying for all this? He needs to just go home and stay there.

[nopardons]

And I just bet, that YOU think that ALL women, who are raped, deserve what they got...right ?

What on earth is wrong with you ? Why do you assume that that poor girl " went along with it " ? She freaked out, upon finding the hidden cameras and broke down on the stand.

He " ruined " his own sick, perverted life and should be deported, as soon as his sentence is served.

[clee1]

Agreed.

I really don't want to pay for keeping him in jail for 180 days.... our jails aren't bad enough to justify keeping this pervert around. Deport him.

[Brandon]

This is not some guy who was walking along the street, noticed that a woman had left her bedroom curtains open while she undressed, and in a moment of weakness took advantage. This is a guy who went to a great deal of trouble to set up video equipment, and collected 150 tapes of his victim -- meaning that, if he filled each tape, a minimum of 300 hours of footage. That goes way, way, way beyond casual voyeurism.

[skr]

"...believed he had permission..."??? The jury didn't buy it. Both judge and jury appear to know a pervert when they see the disgusting evidence of one. His victims may even be on the web. It's rape of their dignity and privacy. His sentence doesn't seem onerous enough to me.

[jocon307]

"Harlan said he did not know how the conviction would affect Ryoki’s immigration status."

Deport him and be done with it.

[exnavy]

I have a daughter 19 and one 16. If some scumbag did thisto one of mine, I'ld put a .45 caliber hole in his forhead. This guy got off light.

[Gorzaloon]

The newsgropus are as full of such pictures as the web is of the intrusive, ubiquitous X-10 Camera popunder ads.

But the funny thing is that if the product were a GUN, the manufacturers and advertisers would be hunted, pilloried, and hounded.

Funny how that works.

[Cacophonous]

I think they should nail his, um, equipment, to a stump and give him a rusty knife. In lieu of jail time. The deport him back to Japan.

[Huck]

Dittos.

[SLB]

In this instance I think the judge ruined this mans life over what the law defines as a minor crime.

I have four daughters, one is married and one is in college. It doesn't matter - let some pervert do this to any of them and see what his sentence is. This jerk got off lightly. When growing up, look at my profile to see where, there was a teacher who "took advantage" of a student. Her brothers took care of him; he could have gotten a part with the Vienna Boys Choir after they finished with him. The local doctor said he could not have done a better job.

[isthisnickcool]

I have a daughter 19 and one 16. If some scumbag did thisto one of mine, I'ld put a .45 caliber hole in his forhead. This guy got off light.

Hey! You MUST learn tolerance and how to be sensitive to this poor fellows problem that obviously stems from some bad childhood experience. Now, have you learned that? You have? Good! Then use this: