The majority of Japan’s women’s underwear thieves choose easy marks: garments hanging outside the residences of their female owners.

However, Kentaro Fuda, 35, is different. Prior to his apprehension two months ago, he preferred to pilfer garments while they were still being worn, crimes he says were fueled by excitement, reports Nikkan Gendai (Sept. 10).

It was a slippery slope. “Since I have an interest in women’s underwear, I stole a pair [once], but that just gradually led me to target the next woman,” he says. “I found the act of stealing underwear to a thrill.”

On Monday, police accused Fuda, of no known occupation, of indecent assault and attempted theft in two incidents that took place over the past year. Thus far, police have accused him in a total of three cases.

In late February, the suspect came up from behind a girl in her late teens walking on a street in the prefecture and grabbed her.

After thrusting one of his hands up her skirt, he attempted to remove her underwear. However, he fled the scene after the girl screamed.

The second case took place on a night last November. At around midnight, the suspect grabbed a woman in her 20s from behind as she walked on a street and shoved her down.

He then reached up her skirt and pulled down her underwear to her ankles. After finally pulling the garment free, he fled the scene.

“It seems that Fuda wasn’t interested in carrying out obscene acts, like touching a woman’s body. He just focused on panties,” an investigator tells Gendai.

Police first arrested Fuda on July 15 over a third incident that took place the month before. In that case, he attempted to pull off the underwear of another woman in her 20s as she walked on a street.

Police used security camera footage to make the arrest. During questioning, the other two incidents emerged.

A subsequent search of Fuda’s residence, a modest unit located along the Hankyu Senri Line, revealed more than 100 pairs of women’s underwear.

Investigators also seized a smartphone belonging to the suspect that contained between 200 and 300 photographs and videos of women’s underwear.

“He knows what he likes,” the aforementioned investigator says. “He seems to have started stealing underwear last year.”