A 26 year-old man was arrested Monday for indecent assault after he muffled the mouth of a 9-year-old girl and fondled her inappropriately, police said. According to police, the suspect, identified as Sakura City resident Akihiro Saito, spotted the girl on her way home from school in Chiba City on May 22. He grabbed her from behind, covered her mouth and then fondled her before fleeing.
According to police, Saito admits to the charges, saying, "I did it because I was frustrated." He was quoted as saying that he had committed similar acts over 100 times, mainly to elementary-aged girls.
In the Chiba City area, similar incidents had been occurring with some frequency, and just as police had created a likeness of the offender and begun an investigation, Saito was brought in for questioning.
© News reports
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usaexpat
He was frustrated? More like he's a pedophile although that certainly may cause frustration given that it's illegal and such. Glad this guy will be off the streets.
BBLeo
ARE YOU KIDDING ME: ...Assaulting over 100 girls before being arrested? This is all going back to police force and their investigatorS. Please make sure that he seeS' shrink before he get suspended sentence. 'IS ACCUSSED SEEK ANIMAL???'
kirakira25
Yet again, my argument against letting my elementary age kids walk to school alone (or in groups) stands up against the parents and teachers constantly berating me for taking them to school and not teaching them "independence".
As for why this thing happens at all - well, I think that's complicated, and of course it happens all over the western world not just within Japan, but unlike the western world I think Japan could make a major leap forward by not trivialising child sexual abuse in manga comics and using young girls and school uniforms as sex objects. Wherever you go - outside Pachinko parlours, conbini's, even childrens characters like Pricure you see this depicted and it almost sends the message that this is socially acceptable.
As a Mum of a daughter attending elementary school I would also like to see thorough checks done on teachers backgrounds, as in the UK and US. her current homeroom teacher really gives me the creeps.
dishdash
I personally think if you really want to fix this - get young people better socialised like in the West where (and maybe someone can correct me here of whether it occurs in Japan or not as I dont have kids) kids go to dances and things like that. A lot of this here has to do with adults not being well adjusted. Lets fix the root of the problem. I am a big fan of Japan having lived there for such a long time but this type of thing needs to really stop. In that regard I wish Japan would just open its mind and not just its door to the newest gadgets or toys. SIGH.
nandakandamanda
Lot of readers posting exactly the same opinion. Doesn't anyone read other people's posts any more? Or doesn't it matter?
Nothing new about the crime, but as namabiru4me says above, maybe now is the time for everyone to educate their children on how to deal with sick men who have never been taught the necessity of self control, or learnt how to take care of their bodily urges.
soldave
The story says he was quoted as saying this, but then never quotes him saying he's assaulted over 100 young girls. Not saying he hasn't, but might be worth checking out what exactly has or hasn't been said as we know how Kyodo News/JT can get a little ahead of the game sometimes with their stories.
TokyoHustla
Is this another forced confession? 100 seems unlikely. Maybe they're just trying to pin all unsolved cases on one guy.
nath
100? How did he get this far? Most of you are complaining about the man - he's a bad bloke, but why wasn't he stopped (arrested) at just a dozen or so?
gogogo
Ok... he should be taken to a doctor and "repaired" so that he wont do this anymore. There is a procedure to do this, California was the first state to use it as a punishment for sex offenders:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_castration
joseba
This sounds fishy to me... Assaulting over 100 girls before being arrested?
It's like the police had too many cases to deal with, and they charge all of them to a persuadable person.
pawatan
So are you blaming the girls for being attractive to perverts? That's what you are saying when you say uniforms need to be more modest to discourage perverts. Seems quite retrograde to me.
I don't believe there is a big social problem. It's a country of nearly 150 million. There's bad seeds in every population. You can just punish them when you find them, educate your children how to be safe, and hope they'll never need to worry about bad people -- which in all likelihood, they won't.
Jkanda
The only country where even beggars and homeless have access to free porn. What more can you expect to hear? This is the first world, 26 year old is not busy with his career, or his family life and has a lot of free time. He is frustrated. He has a lot of time to read Manga (I am a big MANGA fan, but not a fan of porn).
I heard a discussion on the local radio that the public toilets in the parks could be a reason for increased crime!!!!!!!! Someone enlighten me on this. What would happen if the current school girls uniforms were changed to something more modest and comfortable. What would happen to the Jporn industry and the pervs?
Tahoochi
In the US, you can now check the internet to see where convicted sexual offenders live (exact address and mug shot), and of course, see if they live anywhere close to you. It's pretty sad that it would to come to that, but maybe Japan could use something similar... and even still, it wouldn't do anything to prevent 1st time offenders, but it would be better than nothing.
Disillusioned: You see men on the train everyday with comic books containing rape and abuse? I really don't understand your basis for such a statement. You never cease to amaze me.
PepinGalarga
How did this guy get caught? This story fails to mention any details. Some secret ninja vigilant force? Police sure ain't got time to be chasin after these kind of creeps.
Altria
Do you live in Saitama?
Bartholomew Harte
my previous comment(chop his hands off!)was rather crude but if you think this sick coward deserves to keep them so be it if i were the judge i would try and keep his kind of Animal in a DARK Old CELL for aLONG,LONG TIME!!!
Disillusioned
There seems to be one of these loons caught every other day. I wonder if he also is in possession of child porn stirring his sickness, not that having child porn is an offense in Japan, mind you. Incidents like this are common and will continue to grow number until the J-cops and government do something about controlling pornographic material depicting young girls, including manga. It sickens me to see grown men ogling over comic books containing rape and abuse of young girl. I see them on the trains every day and just wanna slap the twisted perverts.
telecasterplayer
He's a criminal by his own words, and needs to be locked up for a very long time. But.. 100 times without being noticed until now? Is that likely? Maybe he's been reading too much pervert manga. Let him think about it in prison for a long, long time.
Coolasapool
good lad
DJJapan
According to his confession (Through the police whilst getting almost tortured) he said that he had done this over a hundred times? Not defending the guy but why does it seem that these people spill their guts so easily? For doing what he did though he doesn't deserve the phone book he deserves the curb stomp!
namabiru4me
Off with his hands!
Seriously, people who commit sex crimes against children should have their mugs posted everywhere so that: 1) If children see them they can recognize them and run away 2) Every adult can scorn them for the sicko that they are
Also, they should be affixed with GPS so that movements can be monitored. This would include not allowing them to be near places children frequent (schools, parks, etc.)
I have taught my kids to kick or punch as hard as they can right where it counts if ANY adult touches them inappropriately.
timorborder
Named and shamed. Now all the police have to do is whip up some hysteria among the general population of the prison to which this guy is sent. That should solve this problem permanently. Afterall everybody loves a rock spider.
I did it because I was frustrated.”
Aren't we all mate! Let's hope some of the overworked boys in blue take out their frustrations on you down the cells. Anyone got a copy of the yellowpages?
BurakuminDes
If he is a salaryman, the sentence will most likely be a rap over the knuckles and a good behaviour bond.
IfeelImust
Round up the parents of the 100+ victims of this animal and put him in a room with them.
kanadamanada
If he is indeed guilty, he won't get a sentence that would satisfy many readers on this site. Unfortunately, assaults on children do not carry the moral weight in Japan that most western readers would relate to. If he has something that qualifies here as extenuating circumstances (lost a job, drunk, "sexually frustrated by a lover (blame a woman)", was teased at school, lost his favourite Gundam doll", accidentally deleted his totally legal child-porn collection, etc.); then the judge will certainly take that into consideration. Pathetic state of legal affairs.
inkjet
This is why I don't want my girls walking to school in Chiba. Why would any parent let their child be alone on a public road? Every day. Like clock work. For close to an hour.
Parents here try to assure me it's safe because they are in a group. What exactly are a bunch of little kids supposed to do if a car stops and a kid gets grabbed?
Japan needs to reconsider this practice. The risks out weigh any benefit.
And that doesn't even take into account the risk of a car hitting them.
HypnotiqOne
this is sick! let him get fondled by a bunch of inmates! lock him up!
soldave
Maybe it's just so the police can close a whole bunch of cases by just throwing all the charges at one guy.
GJDailleult
This is the second report in a short time where the suspect claimed to have made an extremely high number of similar assaults. Either the admissions are nonsense or there are some very serious problems with the reporting of assaults and/or the police.
JoeBigs
No you did it because you are nutz and need to go away and get help badly...
pathat
We keep seeing stories like this scumbag sexually assaulting young girls. It's not like this kind of crime wasn't widespread in the past; it's just being reported more accurately and commented on more frequently as should be the case.
LoveUSA
sick
medievaltimes
as opposed to appropriate fondling?
kyourin
I remember reading a smiliar news a few days back ..
Beelzebub
Well there's the problem then -- he didn't refer to the section in the manual on "appropriate fondling" issued by the police. They should throw the book at him.