A junior high school teacher in Okayama Prefecture who was accused of paying a 15-year-old girl for sex using counterfeit bills recently had his sentence reduced by a higher court.

Toshihiro Takatsuki, 30, formerly a part-time teacher from Asaguchi, Okayama Prefecture, created 11 fake 10,000 yen notes using a color printer in February 2005, according to the ruling. A few weeks later, he paid a 15-year-old for sex using three of them.

The high court judge reduced the teacher’s original sentence because the man had “reached an out-of-court settlement with the woman for using the counterfeit notes.”

So does this mean that sex with underage girls is not that bad as long as you pay for it with legal tender?

Hey, come to think of it, maybe that’s what Elvis meant by “Love Me Tender”! (Rimshot, please.)