Ex-nursery school head, employee found guilty over boy's death in school bus

But he ultimately handed down suspended sentences for the two defendants, after taking into consideration that up to that day, they had regularly ensured all children had got off the bus, but had on that occasion become distracted after they tried to sooth another child who had started crying.

So, his reasoning was that most of the children got to school without dying on most days. Therefore, we should cut them some slack?

Crying child souteigai. All should be forgiven. Sarcasm

Send to jail

Such cases have prompted many nurseries to conduct drills, encouraging children to sound the bus horn if they find themselves accidentally locked inside the vehicle.

Incredible to think this relatively simple measure that could have prevented this tragedy was only prompted after the death of this poor child. Assuming employees will always do their job is a sure way to cause problems, it is much safer to think somebody will make a mistake some time, and have measures in place for that inevitable situation.

The sad part of all this is that this incident of forgetting an infant inside a closed micro bus happened in Fukuoka, in the middle of July. Imagine if the same thing happened in summer in Sapporo (25° max) or any other season in Fukuoka. RIP.

what about doing a roll call for god sake!!?? What is wrong with these idiots?? Put their name down when they get on the bus and tick it off when they disembark! Pretty damn simple for anyone with greater than 2 brain cells…

The parents were robbed of their children by the incompetence of the nursery staff and we're robbed of justice by the incompetent judge. Smgdfh....

You can easily cherry pick the crime stats here to ‘prove’ that we’re living in the safest of possible worlds. But when you consider that suspended sentences are handed out with abandon and that offenses that elsewhere would incur severe penalties are here consigned to the category of out of mind, out of sight and therefore kept off the books, tells us all we need to know.

You can easily cherry pick the crime stats here to ‘prove’ that we’re living in the safest of possible worlds.

I don't follow. They were still found guilty so that would be recorded as a crime Stat.

Really? Only 2 years and 18 month sentences?

This will destroy a family for their entire lifetime.

Make them an example.

Too old perhaps ?

This type of tragic oversight causing the death of a young child must not happen again when very simple checking methods can be implemented for checking the children. How many get on? How many get off?

The punishment hardly fits the crime. I know of day care providers, here in Japan, that got taken away in handcuffs, and prosecuted for negligence and child abuse, all because they "forgot" one child, in a secured fenced in area, connected to an adjoining camera monitored classroom, for roughly 1 minute.

They, of course, got fired, and evidently fined as well, because the parents decided to press charges, as they felt that the woman in question, didnt do enough to ensure the safety of their child.

Oh, this was on a US military base!

It was an accident.

Good. A clear case of Criminal Negligence. But the sentence is absurdly too light, . Hopefully a Civil Suit will follow.

It was an accident.

You know, people go to jail for "accidents" particularly when they are negligent. Accidents do happen, but you have to accept responsibility and pay the price for it too.

These two got off with suspended sentences for neglecting to take care of a child under their supervision, and were getting paid to do so as well.

 Hopefully a Civil Suit will follow.

Probably, yet any amounts awarded will never be any amount that matters. Japanese courts to not make people into millionaires, even in cases like this. The parents will be lucky to even see $40,000 or $50,000

I agree with the suspended sentence, in this case. Yes, it is a tragedy and it is the result of a lack of duty of care. However, putting them in jail is not going to change the fact it happened. We can be sure they will be checking the bus carefully from now on.

Sadly, this kind of incident has happened a few times in recent years. The body that oversees these schools needs to put procedures into place to stop this ever happening again.

I thought the sentence was a bit light! Very sad. Procedures need to be followed particularly when you are dealing with humans, so that terrible things like this don't happen. I thought they get training for this. RIP Toma

Suspended sentence... Why even give a ruling if they don't do jail time at all.

It was an accident.

Tell that to the parents of the dead child.

How does anyone recover from that?

Can we get a public hearing from the parents at least? I would like to know more on how these victims feel about our current justice system.

It really is not difficult. After parking the bus, the driver walks up the aisle to the back seat checking to see that no children or belongings are left behind on or under the seats. Takes less than a minute and costs nothing.

"I thought the sentence was light

When justice fails it is one's duty to take matters into one's hands. I'm pretty sure she knows where to find them.

I doubt they will find employment again.

Am I missing something here….training kids to sound the horn or some form of special alarm is good but wouldn’t the primary check be to check all the kids get on and off the bus!

"...both suspended for three years"

I absolutely KNEW the sentence would end that way. I knew it. And it did. Of course. I mean, what is a child's life worth in Japan after all?

nakanoguy01:

"The parents were robbed of their children by the incompetence of the nursery staff and we're robbed of justice by the incompetent judge. Smgdfh..."

We're not robbed of justice, we're robbed of revenge.

Tragic

I doubt they will find employment again.

Wanna bet? There is no line on a Japanese resume that asks if you were convicted of a crime. Do a name change and she is a "new" person. Oh and dont forget, she is probably the owner so unless she lost her license, she can continue with her current school.

It really is not difficult. After parking the bus, the driver walks up the aisle to the back seat checking to see that no children or belongings are left behind on or under the seats.

Right, and you do that every day for years, but one day when you are about to walk the aisle, a kid falls from the front of the bus and you shift your attention, and screw up your routine. I screw up in my work frequently, but luckily it has no consequences for kids. I think we all understand the horror and sadness, and I think we all know it could have been us if we were doing that job. It might be better if we all share the blame rather than point the finger. Either way, it won't help the kid and his family.

What shocks me to this day is that the bus couldn’t be opened from inside when locked. Many vehicles nowadays can be opened from within, even if locked from outside.

Wow! So many people would like to see these two hang. It was an oversight that resulted in the death of a child. Yes, it was careless and shouldn't have happened. However, putting the two in jail will not change what happened. It's up to the authorities to ensure this carelessness never happens again.

Loosing your child is the worst thing it can in your life as a parent. Since many years abroad, schools and government took measure to avoid tragedy but again Japan failed in that and as ghosn said, nonjustice system goes on with zero time jail decisión.

Wow! So many people would like to see these two hang. It was an oversight that resulted in the death of a child. Yes, it was careless and shouldn't have happened. However, putting the two in jail will not change what happened. It's up to the authorities to ensure this carelessness never happens again.

No consequences. Literally a slap on the wrists for the death of a child. Arguably the worst crime that can be committed. The takeaway from this is you can be responsible for the death of a child and be back from jail before next years hanami party. Let these useless humans rot in jail for the rest of their lives as an example.

It might be better if we all share the blame rather than point the finger.

I think if it was your child you won't be thinking like that.

No consequences. Literally a slap on the wrists for the death of a child. Arguably the worst crime that can be committed. The takeaway from this is you can be responsible for the death of a child and be back from jail before next years hanami party. Let these useless humans rot in jail for the rest of their lives as an example.

Not sure if the rest of their lives is suitable. Seems harsh but you're entitled to your view. I think they should have got a lot more than what was handed down. A few comments on here are making light of the incident which is wrong. What happened here is gross negligence!

justaskingNov. 8  07:01 pm JST

It was an accident.

Professional negligence that resulted in the needless death of a 5yrs old. No headcounts and the child was missing for nine hours and they didn't notice.

Step 1: Driver stands up.

Step 2: Driver walks to the back of the bus and looks at the seats.

Step 3: That's it!

Something wrong with the justice in Japan. The boy died and the sentence was only two years and 18 months... Wow unbelievable

So they got 0 jail time???? Disgusting.

Something wrong with the justice in Japan. The boy died and the sentence was only two years and 18 months... Wow unbelievable

> not 2 years and 18 months, ZERO jail time. They are both suspended sentences, which means if they don’t do any other crimes during that time they get off completely free without going to jail