crime

Exec from idol singer group SKE48’s management company arrested on child prostitution charges

54 Comments
By Casey Baseel, SoraNews24

A member of Nagoya-based idol group SKE48 took a fan to task recently for openly telling her how much he enjoyed looking at her thighs. This week, it’s the actions of a member of SKE48’s management company who someone would like to examine the appropriateness of, and that someone is the police.

Kazuya Ebine, an executive with Tokyo-based entertainment and sports management company Zest, was placed under arrest on Tuesday by officers from the Kanagawa Prefectural Police Department on charges of child prostitution and violation of child pornography prohibition laws. Investigators say that arrest stems from an incident that took place last fall when Ebine found two teenage girls posting online about looking for partners for enjo kosai or “compensated companionship,” often used as a euphemism for underage escort and prostitution services.

After making contact with the teens, the Kanagawa Prefectural Police’s Juvenile Investigation Division alleges that on Nov 23 the 58-year-old Ebine paid them 5,000 yen and “performed obscene acts” with them in a car parked in a parking structure in the Machida section of Tokyo, which borders Kanagawa Prefecture. At the time, one of the girls was a 17-year-old second-year high school student, while the other was 15 years old and designated as “unemployed,” implying she was not currently enrolled in any school (compulsory education in Japan ends after junior high, equivalent to the ninth grade of the U.S. school system).

Neither girl was/is affiliated with SKE48. The group currently has 85 official and trainee members on its roster, most around 20 years old, but many under 18 and one who would have been only 10 in November.

Though Ebine is an executive at Zest, he is not the company’s president, and the organization released a statement on the day of his arrest:

“Today, it was announced that an executive of our company, Kazuya Ebine, was arrested on charges of child prostitution and violation of the child pornography prohibition. We sincerely regret that one of our executives has been arrested in such circumstances, and we deeply apologize for the distress this has caused our artists, athletes, media talent, actors, fans, collaborative organizations, group companies, and any individuals who have dealings with our company.

We are currently confirming the details of what transpired, but as this is a grave matter, as of today the executive [Ebine] has been dismissed. We would also like to state that as his role was in overseas business development, he had no direct contact with any of our performers.

We will be giving our full cooperation to investigators and giving through guidance to all of our executives and employees as strive to regain your trust.”

Ebine, meanwhile, maintains that he is innocent of the accusations, and that “I just let the girls into my car.”

Source: Mainichi Shimbun via Hachima KikoTokyo ShimbunJijiSKE48 official websiteZest

Read more stories from SoraNews24.

-- Fake schoolgirl prostitution extortion ring busted by Tokyo police

-- Pre-pubescent boy in Japan uses his high voice to impersonate a schoolgirl in prostitution scam

-- Man arrested for spreading false Twitter rumors about five Japanese idol singers for revenge

© SoraNews24

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

54 Comments
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It's time Japan took a stance on child pornography that is in line with other developed nations.

The softcore child porn in the form of manga widely popular in Japan, or 'Adult Video' featuring young girls who look 15 needs to be banned, as does the explicit underground animated child pornography.

Lift your game and do what most countries did in the 20th century Japan.

9 ( +17 / -8 )

but many under 18 and one who would have been only 10 in November.

Even you sexualize ten year old girls, the result it hardly surprising.

13 ( +16 / -3 )

No surprise here, pedofiles regularly put themselves in a position that gives them access to children, and the culture that tacitly supports child sexuality. I'm sure he thought he was doing nothing wrong. The girls are not mature enough to fully understand what was going on. Things got out of control from a post is my take on this. 15? I shudder when I recal at 15 how close I came to disaster at that age.

10 ( +13 / -3 )

I would blame both side. The girls also tempted him. Is wrong for him to accept but is also wrong of them to offer.

Just arresting the guy isn't gonna solve anything. Man will always be man. And the girls might even keep doing it and sometimes even blackmail people by saying they are underage after doing the deed. What Japan need to do is crack down hard on these cases and find ways to help the girls. Guidance counseling and helping them find a way a stable life. Get them employed. Is not like our country lack jobs.

-11 ( +14 / -25 )

“I just let the girls into my car.”

Beneath contempt.

6 ( +9 / -3 )

I would blame both side. The girls also tempted him. Is wrong for him to accept but is also wrong of them to offer.

Would you now. Blame the child.

There we have it folks - a fifteen-year-old is blamed for a 58-year-old's inability to resist breaking the law.

This is why rape, paedophilia, and other crimes against girls and women, continue and are excused.

12 ( +22 / -10 )

Hiro Today 08:20 am JST

I would blame both side. The girls also tempted him. Is wrong for him to accept but is also wrong of them to offer.

What you seem to be saying is that a 58 year old man is not responsible for his own actions. It implies that he is not capable of controlling his sexual urges. It also implies that teenage girls are at fault when an older adult male finds them sexually attractive. You also don't seem to be taking into consideration that young girls that age aren't mature enough to fully understand the repercussions of their actions, and that makes it the responsibility of the adults around them to guide them. Rather than guiding them out of this lifestyle and giving them the help they need, he took advantage of them.

Just arresting the guy isn't gonna solve anything. Man will always be man.

This implies that you believe all men are sexually interested in 15-17 year old girls and behave similarly. Is that what you mean? Are you saying that all older men incapable of sexual self-control?

9 ( +19 / -10 )

@Maria,

Don't always play the victims card and already assume the girls are ignorant kids which somehow had no idea what they were doing and are the victims. For one most these girls do it is because it offer a lot of easy money and if they are caught, they can shift all the blame to the males. Not always but there are still cases like that.

You look down on them just because they are minors and you do not understand man nature at all. In these modern times if you think they know nothing of their action, you are just as naive and ignorant of the world. Most girls around the world in the 20th century already had experience a very adult life even at a early age.

And clearly you do not understand the very nature of desires of humans. If you offered something sweet(incentive) in front of someone who had the money that can afford it and had never experience it before, 90% out of 100% would grab it. Just because that thing is forbidden normally from society. Humans are not completely rational beings and merely just follow rules and logic but instead can do the most selfish and idiotic things when there is a opportunity available to them.

Clearly you don't even see what has led to this problem in the first place. Why the male did it. And if any male who tell you otherwise is either one big hypocrite and lying through his teeth or just not interested in the opposite sex. Or maybe one hell of a saint. Then i applaud him.

Do you even know how many hundreds of people i met who had boasted their first time was in junior high school or dream of meeting a younger girl?

Downvote all you want, but i am merely telling the truth. We humans are complicated beings. Our greatest fault are the 7 sins.

-5 ( +16 / -21 )

@Hiro - Good grief dude.

2 ( +10 / -8 )

In a culture obsessed with cuteness and encouraging women to act like little girls, it's hardly surprising...

One of the creepier aspects of Japan.

16 ( +17 / -1 )

@HBJ, i know i know. I shouldn't be saying these things but it kinda piss me off how some people get on their high horses and start to comdemn one side while somehow willing to let the other side go. And also offer no solution to the problem itself. Trust me, most of these so called victims are not really victims. I know i probably never commit such a crime since i am happily married and she will probably kill me if i say i dream my wife is 10years younger. Hahaha.

In our nation there is even the 'Papakatsu' which had been increasingly popular among women. Minors are not allowed, but it seems it had been increasing recently. The govenrment should really tackle it and find maybe jobs for the girls instead of just punishing the males.

-7 ( +9 / -16 )

You can imagine what goes on in the Japanese idol industry.

15 ( +15 / -0 )

Very hypocritical of the company condemning his actions.

Their whole business revolves around promoting & selling scantily dressed teenage girls - their main targets being 40 - 50 year old men.

16 ( +16 / -0 )

There is a reason I have called these groups pedo-pop..........because that is what they are sadly.....

11 ( +12 / -1 )

Don't always play the victims card

Screw that pathetically dismissive attitude - as though being a victim is the easy option. What a dangerous and offensive way to think.

If a man can't keep his dick in his pants (and his hands to himself) when he gets the urge to touch someone who is not consenting, not able to consent, and legally below the age of consent, then he should lose the right to use it.

3 ( +10 / -7 )

@Heckleberry

It's time Japan took a stance on child pornography that is in line with other developed nations.

The softcore child porn in the form of manga widely popular in Japan, or 'Adult Video' featuring young girls who look 15 needs to be banned, as does the explicit underground animated child pornography.

Lift your game and do what most countries did in the 20th century Japan.

Yes.

The only problem is that in other developed countries pornography drives the demand for underage stuff (we all know about foreigners abroad in Cambodia, the Philippines, etc).

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Just arresting the guy isn't gonna solve anything.

I agree. Lock him up for twenty years, and put him on a sex offenders register for life.

Make the consequences of paedophilia harsh and explicit.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

58!

4 ( +4 / -0 )

There is no reason to believe he knew how old either of them were. I have seen quite a few early teens who could pass for 20 somethings and women over 30 who shop in the kids' department for their own clothes and would pass for kids if you were walking behind them. You cannot judge their appearance by their age written in an article of text.

Further to that I have met plenty of grown women who act like teenagers and its hardly a "Japan only" thing. And loads of men were attracted to them and they were not mostly Japanese either.

Ebine broke the law if he knew their ages and that is simply as far as it goes.

-1 ( +7 / -8 )

Not excusing the man but the two girls posted on line offering enjo kosai. Is it legal to do this in Japan? It would not be in most countries unless prostitution is legal. So what happens to them? Nothing? Just post another ad like the first and wash, rinse, repeat? At age 17 she knows what she's doing. There are no beauty queens in this paegent.

9 ( +13 / -4 )

"Very hypocritical of the company condemning his actions.

Their whole business revolves around promoting & selling scantily dressed teenage girls - their main targets being 40 - 50 year old men."

Taylor Swift is a class act. I don't listen to her music, not into country western, but she carries herself well, isn't trashy and seems genuine. When she's in the news it's generally for something good. Still, do you think half the guys in the audience of a Taylor Swift concert are there for the music? I've asked men why do they go to those concerts and they always say "because she's hot" with emphasis on the last word. No other reason.

-3 ( +4 / -7 )

He only paid ¥5,000?

8 ( +8 / -0 )

Please point out if this is wrong, but I believe the age of consent in Japan is high and was deliberately raised 20 years or so ago specifically to criminalize teenage prostitution.

You cannot have sex with someone underage. You can only rape them. That is what the law says. The girl can be willing, but that does not equal consent. She is too young to give it.

What this should mean in reality is that any man paying for sex should first establish whether the girl is 18 (or whatever the age of consent is in that prefecture). If she isn't, it will be criminal to have sex with her. That's what the law is.

In this case, I guess the punishment should depend on whether the man knew they were underage or tried to establish that they were not. If the age of consent is to be enforced, not actively asking and a simple "she looked old enough" should not be a valid defense. Since force was not used, this should not be punished anything like as severely as other forms of rape. Registration as a sex offender is probably the most important thing.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

I see there is not one word about how he was caught. Smells like an entrapment scheme, maybe even from those "innocent" girls who have "no idea" what they are doing. When are people going to wake up to reality?

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

I would blame both side. The girls also tempted him. Is wrong for him to accept but is also wrong of them to offer.

the consent age for sex in Japan is 16 , that is both persons have to be over this age, if one isnt then thats sex with a minor, a minor isnt prosecuted like an adult. It takes a perverted ahole who want to prey on young girls or boys

3 ( +5 / -2 )

@Hiro

*I would blame both side. The girls also tempted him. Is wrong for him to accept but is also wrong of them to offer.

Just arresting the guy isn't gonna solve anything. Man will always be man. *

Congrats on the absolute worst take of the day.

4 ( +10 / -6 )

Totally shocked /s

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I don't know about Kanagawa, but the age of consent in Tokyo is 18, set by the 東京都青少年の健全な育成に関する条例. The wording of this suggests, like I said, that it is there to stop underaged prostitution. Underaged prostitution mostly uses the euphemism "enjo kousai", which started in the 1990s as mobile phones became popular and enabled strangers to contact each other through message boards etc. Most enjo kousai is not underage, some of it is married women who need the money.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_Asia#Japan

I don't think the guy "preyed" on the girls or anything, but what he did is illegal and should be punished. It is a crime, and is defined as a crime to protect young women, whether the individuals concerned realize it or not and only care about the 5000 yen.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@do thehusle, he might of only paid 5000 yen but he will be paying for his actions for these of his life!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

We would also like to state that as his role was in overseas business development

That's a relief then. /s

1 ( +1 / -0 )

HeckleberryToday  07:44 am JST

It's time Japan took a stance on child pornography that is in line with other developed nations.

The softcore child porn in the form of manga widely popular in Japan, or 'Adult Video' featuring young girls who look 15 needs to be banned, as does the explicit underground animated child pornography.

Lift your game and do what most countries did in the 20th century Japan.

When I was in college the game arcade across the street featured a game called 'Gals Panic 2'. It featured animated teenage 'Yuki' who undressed more and more as you solved each stage. It continues on with gross porn actions being displayed. It was sickening.

This whole idol/pedo-pop slop thing needs to be vanquished and outlawed. We have a corporate scene of this disgusting trash in America too and it's just plain exploitation to say the least.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Two words: Honey Trap

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Sorry, Kazuya. You got caught. Tsk tsk.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

The dude thought they needed a ride, then when he paid for it the girls realized he was "SUKEBE" as if they were innocent!!

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Two words: Honey Trap

Sure, Poor man. The victim of a crime. He just couldn't help himself. That's what men are like - base forms of life, unable to control themselves emotionally or physically except via their penis. We can't expect men to be socialised to the extent that they know paying teenage girls for sexual acts is wrong.

Won't someone think of the poor, dumb men for once?

I suggest a curfew.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

@girl_in_tokyoAug. 1 09:06 am JST

young girls that age aren't mature enough to fully understand the repercussions of their actions

Let me go out on a limb here and suggest that maybe the main problem is that society complicates things by imagining all kinds of repercussions.

There would be no objections here if it was same age on same age - if anything, Western society is more permissive of "underage" sex. So why does OK become not OK due to an age difference.

Maybe we should see this as: Man exercises sexual autonomy and pays, Female exercises sexual autonomy and accepts offer. 5000 yen for 20 minutes of work is not bad - if female was forced to do "proper" aruibaito, she'll need to work about 5 hours to get the same money.

There are no complicated factors if you don't want them to be there!

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Sure, Poor man. The victim of a crime. He just couldn't help himself.

Of course, this guy is guilty, but you think looking for 'compensated companionship' is a normal thing for a teenage girl to do? If I had a teenage girl, I would teach her never to trust anyone on any dating websites, or even think of putting themselves into a position like that. To me, a big problem is the laws are too lax when it comes to these 'enjo kosai' businesses. I wish they would come down harder on these businesses.

Now imagine if the roles were reversed and an older woman was preying on a teenage boy? Why would you think that she is not as guilty as the older man is? Is it because you feel that even if a boy is a teenager, he should know better not to deal with an older woman?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I hear the ward IDOL all the times as if it's a holy person, while it's completely the opposite.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The softcore child porn in the form of manga widely popular in Japan, or 'Adult Video' featuring young girls who look 15 needs to be banned, as does the explicit underground animated child pornography.

I dunno. I rather enjoy it. And "look 15"?? Uh... have you seen the stuff done by elementary school age girls. They are 9 or 10.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

But it looks like the internet police have been doing a good job of cleaning things up. It's becoming more and more rare to stumble across photos / videos of suspiciously young-looking girls doing questionable things in little or no clothing.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Bugle Boy is ignorant of the idea of coercion it appears.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Of course, this guy is guilty, but you think looking for 'compensated companionship' is a normal thing for a teenage girl to do? 

No. There are many reasons why these girls did what they did: they may be victims of abuse - which skews your views about what is a healthy sex life and appropriate behaviour for girls their age; they may have been coerced into doing it; they may have learnt from society that the only way they'll get by in life - as young women - is by selling their bodies. Lots of reasons.

So if you believe that their behaviour is not 'normal', that they are unaware of what is 'normal', and that they are unable to consent in the 'normal' way, then it makes what this man did even worse - taking advantage of children who don't respect themselves enough, and don't know that what they are doing is wrong and not 'normal'.

Lock him and all people like him away and remove their right to be sexually active.

imagine if the roles were reversed and an older woman was preying on a teenage boy? 

Why? How is that relevant? It isn't what happened here.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Bugle Boy is ignorant of the idea of coercion it appears.

Strangeland, in my experience, the girls were the instigators.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

No. There are many reasons why these girls did what they did: they may be victims of abuse - which skews your views about what is a healthy sex life and appropriate behaviour for girls their age; they may have been coerced into doing it; they may have learnt from society that the only way they'll get by in life - as young women - is by selling their bodies. Lots of reasons.

Bingo! So you agree with me that the laws concerning these enjo kosai businesses should be punished more harshly because they allow a way for these teenage girls to make easy money.

So, what you're saying is that if a teenage daughter did this, your response to your daughter would be, "You did well, because you tried to earn money the best way you could?"

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Strangeland, in my experience, the girls were the instigators.

There’s this interesting tool called “Google” that you can use to find out what big words like “coercion” mean.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

There’s this interesting tool called “Google” that you can use to find out what big words like “coercion” mean.

You seem to think I forced them into something. Okay, bruh. You were there.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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