Photo/Illutration The Fukuoka Prefectural Police Headquarters in Fukuoka (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

FUKUOKA--A prefectural police superintendent, who once led a special investigations team into sex crimes, has resigned after being caught in a sex crime scandal of his own: taking upskirt photos and other acts of voyeurism.

Authorities referred the case to prosecutors on Oct. 23, citing two instances that breached the prefecture’s nuisance prevention ordinance. They said he secretly recorded images of a young woman without her consent.

The 51-year-old officer from the first investigation division formerly headed the coroner’s office. He was suspended for three months as a disciplinary measure, but quit the force on Oct. 23.

Police alleged that he positioned his smartphone on June 13 to capture a teenage university student’s lower body while she was seated on a Fukuoka city subway train.

On June 15, again during the daytime and on the same subway line, he allegedly took images of a part-time worker in her 20s while she was seated.

Police found 3,800 photos and 100 videos of more than 2,000 women stored on his smartphone. The content mainly consisted of body or buttock shots and images taken from behind. None of them showed underwear.

The former superintendent admitted during the investigation that his actions were motivated by sexual desire.

The prefectural police have weathered other misconduct cases.

In September, an assistant commissioner who headed the criminal investigation department resigned after receiving a warning from the prefectural police chief for making sexually explicit remarks in front of female staff.

In another case, a superintendent who headed the human safety measures division received a warning as a disciplinary measure for harassing female staff by making remarks of a sexual nature.