38-year-old man arrested on suspicion of kidnapping 4-year-old girl

whatta creep!!! he just suddenly had the urge to pick up a child change the her diaper?

Creepy, yes. Wrong, probably. Kidnapping? Hard to make that one stick. I bet he gets a warning only.

What? "come candy"... I think you mean "some candy". Also "led the girl away to the convenience store"...

Aside from those corrections, it doesn't seem creepy to me. He bought her a "bag" of diapers. He wasn't trying to hide the fact. He was probably trying to give the parents a subtle "hint" that they should bring more diapers... that way, the young girl doesn't have to ask a complete stranger for help!

This is not a "kidnapping"! Think about it!

The unemployed have a terrible stigma in Japan.

I don't think any adult stranger should be changing the diaper of a child...but do I think he wanted to do any harm? No.

The mother is also to blame here. Her daughters are 10 and 4 and she just leaves them in the park by themselves?? This could have turned out ALOT worse! when will parents in this country get it?

I simply picked her up, took her to the convenience store toilet and changed her diapers. After that, I bought her some candy

I saw this on the Japanese TV news yesterday.

This was an incredibly professional and well-planned piece of child molestation which suggests that he must have done it before in the same location.

The combini is right opposite the park. He called the girl over, picked her up and then went into the combini making it appear that he was the father, saying that he needed to buy diapers and to change the girl's diapers in the restroom .

No-one is going to tell you what happened in the restroom when the pervert was "changing the diapers"

Seto had been seen hanging around children in the park before and was thought of by locals as a bit creepy

But the staff in the combini let him do it...

This is kidnapping. If some stranger did that to my kid I would definitely want that person prosecuted.

And what is with the comments that a 10 year old can't be left alone in a park? Its totally unreasonable to expect kids that age be constantly under parental observation.

I think that this one is difficult to call, It sounds odd at first, but It could be completely innocent, and by judging by the girls actions that nothing sinister has happened. and it seems just a kind charitable action on a strangers behalf. if it was possible he should have said to some one else that what he was doing, so as not call alarm. I hope it was a kind action on his behalf.

He'll be back on the streets in no time. A picture of the guy would be greatly appreciated by parents who want to keep their kids far, far away.

Japanese engineers - time to invent a kid-sized stun gun, or at least a noisemaker that emits a piercing noise in the event of a creep.

Possibly, his intentions were harmless, but his actions are definitely a tad on the creepy side. Hopefully, he is counseled and does not return to hanging the park with little kids.

Police said Seto had been seen hanging around children in the park before and was thought of by locals as a bit creepy.

Okay, if people already think of him as a "bit creepy" and is seen hanging around children in that park, why would the parents simply allow their children to go there unaccompanied by an adult? Lack of common sense and awareness, no?

The older sister said she took her eyes off her sibling for a little while and when she saw her again, she was back in the park, holding a bag with diapers and come candy in it.

There might be more to this. The fact that the guy was able to take her 4-year-old sister quickly and return her again without the older sister and her friend's knowledge sounds like too much perfect timing for me. It's possible he already had the diapers and candy beforehand. Check the convenience store CCTV, neighbor's security camera footage, etc. This guy's story needs to be checked out.

Hold on. Creepy, yes. But from the article I do not see where he kidnapped her. It says he took her back to the park, so where is the "kidnapping"?

Assuming he had her alone in the bathroom where their are no cameras, so yes this is at least mildly kidnapping.

If I had been the parent, I would have gone ballistic on him for taking my daughter out of sight.

I'm hoping this man just has a mental deficiency that prohibits him from seeing the inappropriateness of all this and not something more sinister.

Okay, if people already think of him as a "bit creepy" and is seen hanging around children in that park, why would the parents simply allow their children to go there unaccompanied by an adult? Lack of common sense and awareness, no?

This!

Def should have left the kid crap her pants.

There's a ting of defensiveness in the comments that I fail to understand.

A grown man removed a child who he didn't know away from a park to look at and touch her genitalia (changing a diaper, after all) and buy her candy. Regardless of whether or not he brought her back he certainly did kidnap her and molested her. There's no such thing as touching a child's genitalia when you aren't the child's guardian or doctor that isn't molestation, whatever his convoluted intentions were. As the mother of a young daughter, I hope they lock him up. This is sick, sorry.

This is definitely not right, he took her nappy off. I just can't see a stranger wanting to do that unless he was up to no good.

Sorry, that's not kidnapping....yeah, she shouldn't have done what he did, but if anyone, the parents should be ashamed for letting a 10 year old babysit a child so young.

So then what is kidnapping? What's the amount of time you have to return the child before it becomes kidnapping?

Japanese engineers - time to invent a kid-sized stun gun, or at least a noisemaker that emits a piercing noise in the event of a creep.

This noisemakers already exist. My boy has one as part of his phone, and lots of kids have them attached to their bags.

I can't believe people are defending this guy. He took her into the bathroom and who actually knows what he did while he had her diaper off? It could have been anything from looking and touching to rape. The diapers were a cover to get her into the bathroom alone. Most 4 year old girls are toilet-trained and do not wear diapers. This is a predator who has figured out a very effective way to prey on very young children.

Yeah, I wouldn't dream of taking a young child I didn't know somewhere and removing their clothes in a private location. How could this be seen as acceptable under any circumstances?

If someone did that to my granddaughter (also 4) there would be hell to pay.

So then what is kidnapping? What's the amount of time you have to return the child before it becomes kidnapping?

How about not taking the child at all and the man minding his own business?

@ben shearon:

" Yeah, I wouldn't dream of taking a young child I didn't know somewhere and removing their clothes in a private location. How could this be seen as acceptable under any circumstances? "

It isn´t and I dont see anybody here saying it is. What some posters, me included, quibble with here is the charge of "kidnapping".

"What some posters, me included, quibble with here is the charge of 'kidnapping'"

The charge is "abduction" and the 'kidnapping' headline is merely a bad translation. The fact is that the pervert literally PICKED UP the four-year-old girl in his arms and CARRIED HER AWAY. This is abduction.

And this is the type of crime that perpetrators of full-scale abduction and murder, when eventually caught, usually have in their history.

He can plead good intentions 'til the cows come home, but there's no escaping the facts: he took a child without permission and made physical contact with her intimate parts. Can we avoid adverse inference?

I hope a judge reinforces the boundaries. Kids are not public property.