crime

4-year-old boy dies after being locked inside TV stand cabinet by father

42 Comments

Police in Kitakyushu said Monday they have arrested a 27-year-old man on suspicion of fatally abusing his 4-year-son after he locked the boy inside a storage cabinet beneath a TV stand at their house.

According to police, the incident occurred early in the morning of May 11 at the house in Kokura Ward. Police said Shunta Notomi placed his son Yuto into the drawer beneath the TV in their second-floor bedroom, Fuji TV reported. When Notomi checked on the boy a few hours later, he wasn’t breathing. He called 119 at around 6:20 a.m. the next day.

Yuto was taken to hospital where he died due to hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (lack of oxygen to the brain) about one hour later, according to doctors. The hospital notified police about a case of possible child abuse.

Meanwhile, local media reported Monday that Notomi’s wife Maiko, 24, who is Yuto's stepmother, in February had abused her then 2-year-old daughter by scalding her with a boiling liquid. Two days later, she took her daughter to a hospital and said the child had been careless with boiling water and sat on a kerosene heater. The hospital contacted a child welfare center and a worker visited the house but saw no signs of child abuse.

However, on Monday, police said Maiko has been arrested on suspicion of abusing her daughter. They believe that Notomi and his wife may have been regularly abusing their two children.

Police said that in total, eight family members live in the house.

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42 Comments
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Unbelievable.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

this happened may 10th????

When Notomi checked on the boy several hours later, he wasn’t breathing an the called 119 at around 6:20 a.m. the next day.

No need to hurry or anything!

4 ( +5 / -1 )

These two people, not going to call them parents, are the worst of the worst

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Sterilize them and then torture them.

1 ( +6 / -5 )

OH my good Lord!

Take their daughter away before it's too late and never give her back to the parents EVER!

Rest in peace little boy : (((

6 ( +7 / -1 )

If neutering humans was a thing, these two would be a good candidate for it

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Yeah, this guy is an idiot.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

They really need to start reporting ALL these incidences on the Japanese news as Headline news. A rich man dies and it's all over the TV for weeks, a Sumo wrestler fights, again all over the TV for weeks, well you get the point. With all the kids being killed by parents and parents being kills by their kids, they can go on for years with TV 'Specials'. Why is it that a child dies and it only get 30 seconds of air time but a rich guy dies and it becomes a full TV special!!

7 ( +9 / -2 )

Hang BOTH of them, AFTER you; Dump scalding hot water on the "mother" and

lock the "father" in a sealed closet of some type.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

More family murders yet my question about what percent of murders in Japan are within the family remains unanswered

0 ( +2 / -2 )

This is a serious question.

What can can I do to stop this?

this news crushes me. But saying how the parents should die, be jailed for life, tortured doesn’t do it anymore.

Why do do people become like this?

yeah, I have no problem with the parents being killed. I think I’d be okay with pushing the button or whatever it takes.

But , how do humans become like this?

im already in deep depression. News like this makes me lose interest in anything else.

If if I met these parents on the street, would I recognize that they could be doing this?

if I saw the kids playing somewhere, would I know it?

How do we stop kids from growing up into monsters like this?

After Yuwa Chan, this.

What can I do?

8 ( +8 / -0 )

@ gaijinpapa - I don't have all the answers of course but one way is to take the abused child out of the home and place them in a loving environment. We took our granddaughter out of her single parent home because her older brother would often beat her. He had grown up watching their father abuse their mother physically and verbally so he was already imprinted.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

God freaking damn it ! Right in my neighborhood !!!

Reading the news in japanese is even more disgusting. This is clearly murder, because nobody in their right mind would think the kid would be ok.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Reminds me of a story 6months back where a boy "hid" in a washing machine while his dad took a nap then was found dead. Smelt like BS at the time.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

This is so sad. If people can't look after their kids properly, they should 1) Don't have them if you can't look after them; 2) Adopt them out or something.

No child should have to endure this suffering at the hand of their parents. RIP little one.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Well, isn't today's family murder special? The poor little fella suffocated. What a horrible death! And, the daughter was scalded with boiling water? What a callous pair of 'expletives'! Why are Japanese people so mean to their kids? Yeah, child abuse happens all over the world, but Japan has a unique kind of meanness and callousness. They just hate their kids and treat them like trash. The case that make the news are special, but even 'average' families abuse their kids. Hitting them on the head, punching, pinching and pushing, screaming at them, dragging them by the arm, there is not a day goes by that I don't see some kind of public meanness towards a child from a parent. I shudder to think what goes on at home. Ask any Japanese adult if they have ever been locked on the balcony as discipline and 90% will answer, yes. There's just not enough love in Japan.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Being living in Japan for a while and I have never heard so much news about children being abused by their parents or spouses partner in the news until moving here. It is very worrying and sad.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

In the 21st century, there's this thing called birth control. If they didn't want to put up with taking care of kids they should have used it. Some people just don't deserve to be parents.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

https://mainichi.jp/articles/20180619/k00/00m/040/167000c

According to the Mainichi shinbun, this was the guy's grandmother's place.

He and his wife moved their last year, after getting married.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

gaijinpapaToday  07:39 am JST

Why do do people become like this?

I have a nasty feeling that they got similar treatment when they were small and that these kinds of parents in Japan behave this way out of a deeply twisted sense of "tough love." Although I seriously doubt there's any love involved.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Evil, sadistic people.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

The abused daughter needs to be taken away from the family entirely including the grandparents living with them who failed in protecting their grandkids.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

According to Bintaro's Mainichi article above, when the hospital became suspicious about the 2-yr old's burns, they contacted child welfare who interviewed Maiko, the mother. She said that the child had sat on the kerosene heater.

妹がやけどを負った事件の際、病院からの通告で面会した職員に対し、麻衣子容疑者は「石油ストーブに子供が座った」と説明していた。

1 ( +1 / -0 )

RIP

Japan really needs to get serious about both child neglect and what this sounds like, sadistic punishment of children in the name of discipline. I would venture that some sadistic punishment is a response to situations, say a bored child banging a toy against the floor, due to a failure of the parent to creatively occupy the child and simply expecting bad behaviour to stop by saying "yamero" a few times. That is poor parenting on multiple levels.

Like the story the other day, the authorities have had first hand evidence of child abuse by this family but failed to stop it. They should be putting the fear of god into these people. Take their children away and fine them/confiscate their stuff if things mean more to them than their children.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

gaijinpapa

michealjackson

I know how you guys feel because I'm a child psychologist and I have been trying to foster/adopt a child here, but the system is set up to keep these children institutionalized until they are 18. Japan will just separate the kids (when its too late) and keep them from any kind of REAL family settings. Tryst me, I have been battling and arguing with the adoption/foster facilities for years and they still will not place a child in our loving care.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Japan really needs to get serious about both child neglect ... the authorities have had first hand evidence of child abuse ...

I think we're all agree about this. Too bad the authorities here seem far more interested in yelling at women to have more children or take that child out of our assembly! Kids not yet born, a top concern, children already alive, not so much.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Send these child murders to hell!

2 ( +3 / -1 )

When I read stories about cruel and irrational crimes happening often in recent Japan, I have to think that the brutality and crimes committed by the imperial army during the war must be all true. Bestiality and primitiveness is a part of our nature.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Chalk up another one for the toothless child welfare services. I understand they're trying their best but as long as their hands are tied, get used to reading horror stories like this.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Since Govt. make new rules of marriage, afraid to see more such incident when baby born by immature couples in 18s~19s ???

It's funny when govt. think to increase birth rate from immature couples, even we found lot's of news of child abuse at age of 20~30s.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Checked at six thirty am. After several hours?drinking all night?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

real piece of filth these 2 are. poor little children. helpless at the hands of monsters.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Alot of these cases recently. These should all be automatic death penalty.

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

@Nan Ferra - Alot of these cases recently. These should all be automatic death penalty.

Well, there goes 40% of the population, Let's start with an awareness and education campaign before we go condemning these people to the gallows, shall we?

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Why they need children in the first place. Why can't these morons use gomu.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Sir Bentley and Michael,

I personally wonder what “I” can do.

The system here seems absurd to me.

Sir Bentley, there are lots of kids in orphanages here who will be there till adulthood.

there are Japanese who leave their kids in there and won’t let anyone have them, but won’t take them out..

and its seems evens hard to protect kids in abusive situations. On the other hand there are maybe millions of parents like me who have no idea when we will see our kids.

When there’s an earthquake - how do you think I feel?

I don’t know where my kids live?

If the die will I be notified?

I cant go and rescue them.

But I can’t help imagining a poor kid spending his last hours in a cupboard.

most of us had times when we thought our parents were too strict.

But parents usually give their lives for their kids, not take them.

A lot has to change in this country.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Causes are:

no psychological help or assessment from people

no adoption culture (Abe san showing the way)

family business stays in family til the end.

Need some heavy progress.

RIP

0 ( +2 / -2 )

What is fhe Japanese version of a trailer park? There aren’t any trailers or trailer parks here, but there seems to be quite a lot of trailer park trash on the lower rungs of Japanese society

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Causes are:

no psychological help or assessment from people

There are numerous such services in Japan, and they are free, but you can’t make people go against their will.

no adoption culture (Abe san showing the way)

Adoption is mainly cultural among Christians. Most Japanese who are adopted are adopted by Japanese Christians. Traditional Japanese culture values blood ties above all others.

family business stays in family til the end.

This is not unique to Japan.

Need some heavy progress.

Agreed.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

What is fhe Japanese version of a trailer park?

Called "danchi" in Japanese.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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