37-year-old man arrested for abusing 5-year-old stepdaughter

disgraceful.

The man and his wife lived with their three daughters, but only the second daughter was his stepdaughter.

This is a boggling statement!

What makes an adult think it is ok to kick a kid in the stomach? He must have really laid into her to do internal injuries and to make her unconscious. No doubt she was subjected to other abuses as well. I just cannot understand how people can be so cruel to children.

Internal injuries.... I'm beginning to wonder whether this sick bastard kicked her, or did something else .

Either way, unthinkable. Stupid man child.

Japan has a funny attitude to step kids. My divorced sister-in-law refuses to even consider re-marriage, saying that any future husband would be bound to abuse her daughters sexually or physically... : (

I know what you mean. A friend of ours married a Japanese man and they have a son, but she has a son from her previous marriage. The guy is charging her rent to have his stepson live with them. He also is charging her for the kids food. She has a job, and She's looking into getting support to move out.

Japan has a funny attitude to step kids.

No, not just Japan, I think it's pretty much universal (I should know). Look up Cinderella effect. "Studies have found that not biologically related parents are up to a hundred times more likely to kill a child than biological parents."

A friend of ours married a Japanese man and they have a son, but she has a son from her previous marriage. The guy is charging her rent to have his stepson live with them. He also is charging her for the kids food.

Please encourage your friend to get out of this marriage as soon as she possibly can. My parents divorced when I was in my early teens, then remarried to partners who really didn't want me around at all. the effect was so traumatising that I can't bear to entertain the idea of marriage, let alone parenthood. Your friend is far better off raising her kids on her own.

The justice system needs to make examples of Individuals that abuse children, the mans savage and brutal behavior demands zero tolerance sentencing. These grotesque creatures are present in societies on a global scale.

Poor little girl. If I had a marriage with "baggage", I would've pre-accepted those terms and conditions. Some men are violent, some aren't. I couldn't bring myself to harm a little 5yr old no matter what.

These grotesque creatures are present in societies on a global scale.

They are indeed. Seen these cases plenty, stateside.

I've been reading about these stupid people who abuse one another, but have never read what happens to them after they are charged. What is the penalty for abuse in Japan? Is it so lax that people are not afraid to do it?

Article difficult to understand. "Only the second daughter step"? Were they married? It sounds like a very difficult family arrangement. That being said, the man needs serious time alone (jail time) and mandatory anger management counseling. This of course, will put very difficult strains on the family finances. Better that than another round of abuse with the very real possibility of more serious injury or death.

I hope this scumball has "an accident" while in police custody - see if he likes sustaining internal injuries...

Poor child. She's like a modern day Cinderella... This man should be put away for a very long time.

People who commit these crimes are really impotent imbeciles or psychopaths who cannot control their emotions. Abusing infants is such a vile, cowardly act, there are no fitting words for it. What is that makes these people predate on the weak? Does that give them some kind of satisfaction, not realizing the power balance is totally upset. Are these the same characters that abuse women as well, or anything that is at a clear disadvantage? How can/does society deal with these . . ., what do we call them?

@presto

It's a sad fact, but it is a fact, that many abusers were themselves abused as children. We need to swallow our natural revulsion and recognise that there may well be two victims involved in a case like this. In that case both need help.

I'm not just spouting hippy, lefty claptrap. It's what the doctors and psychologists have said for years.

@luca, and with that analogy, he and his lawyers would be espousing a lesser penalty? I just can't understand humanity anymore!

@trinklets

If this poor, traumatised five-year-old girl grows up and abuses her own kids, don't you think she ought to be treated as a victim, rather than a monster?

@luca, then there shld be no more jails as all criminals in there would cry out loud as abused victims as a child. We go to school and are introduced to what is idealistic, we live our daily lives and see what is reality. We are born with the power to recognize what is wrong and right and with that we are given choices. If the child was abused and was able to see other children who lived decent ,normal lives and later decided to create his own family can he not leave the shadow of abuse and raise a good one? And with your example, yes I'd treat her as a monster, one who never learn from previous mistakes. they shld never be allowed to procreate.

@trinklets

"We are born with the power to recognise what is wrong and right."

You honestly, sincerely believe that? I think you're in a tiny minority. A two-year old who wants orange juice will snatch it off a ten-month old, no problem. No guilt, no compunction. I want, it's mine.