A Japanese school teacher was turned over to public prosecutors last week in connection with the death of a teenage girl who was found handcuffed and barefoot on a highway with a fractured skull.

Ken Fukumoto was arrested seven weeks after 12-year-old Osaka schoolgirl Noriko Kamiie died. His arrest follows a spate of sex crimes by Japanese school teachers.

Fukomoto was arrested after police checked dialing records of the girl's cellular phone. Education ministry figures show 115 teachers at public-financed elementary and middle schools were punished for sexual acts in the academic year to April 2000 - up 49.4 percent from the year before. Fifty-six of the cases involved indecent advances to children at their own schools and 19 were towards children at other schools.

There were six cases of indecency towards graduates and 13 towards fellow teachers.