The arrested former head of the Tsuzuki Gakuen educational group has come under suspicion of sexually harassing victims in the group for more than a decade, it has been learned.

The suspicions surfaced after the former head, 71-year-old Yasuhisa Tsuzuki, was arrested on suspicion of indecent assault.

Reports have arisen that harassment occurred at more than one educational institution operated by Tsuzuki Gakuen. Fukuoka Prefectural Police said the reports supported the view that Tsuzuki's problem behavior had become an everyday affair.

Police investigators and Tsuzuki Gakuen officials said information that Tsuzuki was groping female workers in university corridors and workers who served him tea had been circulating among female employees for more than 10 years. A number of workers were reportedly moved to other sections when they protested to Tsuzuki Gakuen officials. Some said they felt this treatment was done to get rid of them or to make examples of them.

In September this year, the 23-year-old woman victimized in the case leading to Tsuzuki's arrest wrote a protest with several other female workers, complaining of sexual harassment by Tsuzuki. Immediately afterwards, she was transferred to a location outside the university under the "chancellor's orders." The woman didn't want to be transferred, and she complained to her superior, but her protests were not accepted.

When questioned by the Mainichi, a Tsuzuki Gakuen official admitted that the treatment was inappropriate.

"The transfer was designed to curb the damage and create a better working environment, but it's natural that the female worker was not happy with this. We didn't explain the issue properly and acted inappropriately," the official said.

Another university operated by the Tsuzuki Gakuen group made an effort to protect female workers by having officials and men given the role of attending to the chancellor serve tea. However, at the university where the female victim worked, women had carried out the task of serving tea until the time the letter of protest was filed. When the chancellor visited, the female workers would line up at the entrance of the institution and in front of the elevator to greet him, reportedly putting them in a situation where they couldn't avoid the harassment.

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