crime

Fireman accused of fondling passenger during overnight bus trip

24 Comments

A fire department deputy chief was arrested Sunday for allegedly molesting a female passenger who was sleeping in the seat beside him during an overnight bus trip from Morioka to Tokyo.

According to police, Takashi Matsuo, 24, who is stationed at the Senju fire department in Tokyo, fondled the 26-year-old woman early Sunday morning. He is accused of pulling down the sleeping woman's stockings and touching her legs. The woman woke up and complained to the driver.

When the bus stopped at a rest area near Utsunomiya, the driver contacted police who arrested Matsuo at the scene.

On Monday, the Tokyo Fire Department issued the following statement: "We do not condone this type of activity. If this incident in fact did take place, we will take appropriate measures to punish Mr Matsuo."

© News reports

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

24 Comments
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He managed to get her stockings off? Weird. She must be a very deep sleeper.

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Matsuo san.. You caused a nusiance, now, go away and be agood boy. Punishment? I dont think so.

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Here comes the "I was drunk" excuse.

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Fondling is not a crime if you have consent or its at least implied (sleeping wife). He did not have consent. That is the crime.

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Wow! That's a gutsy(?), incredibly stupid move. How the heck did he pull down the woman's stockings when she was sitting and sleeping?! This fireman should get the axe!!

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Dolphin - knee high stockings perhaps? Those are the type I prefer my girl to wear. I'm surprised he is a deputy chief at 24 y/o. That's pretty young for such a position.

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I don't believe it. They are saying that this guy reached all the way up her skirt, and pulled her stockings down without her waking up? I smell BS.

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HeyLars, there is no such thing as "implied consent." There is consent or there isn't. A sleeping wife is not "fair game" any more than a sleeping stranger.

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Yeah, likely knee-high stockings. No woman travelling alone should fall asleep, for grubby hands might be inching their way to her. Idiot fire chief.

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Fondling is not a crime if you have consent or its at least implied (sleeping wife). He did not have consent. That is the crime.

And what jurisdiction would that be in? So by your definition "marriage" as a construct offers a form of implied consent between two parties, even if one of those parties is unconscious (sleeping)? If that is the case, could you please define at what point such "consent" no longer applies? For example, under your interpretation of the law, what is the difference between "feeling somebody up" and "slapping some sense into them"? Surely, if such "consent" is implied, it must have a whole range of applications.

We do not condone this type of activity. If this incident in fact did take place, we will take appropriate measures to punish Mr Matsuo

Hate to break it to the fire brigade, but they are in no position to punish this person. If the acts in question were committed, this guy should go up in front of the court on a charge of assault. Furthermore, if the prosecutor has a bxner for the defendant he might even try for sexual assault.

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Monkeyz said: there is no such thing as "implied consent." There is consent or there isn't. A sleeping wife is not "fair game" any more than a sleeping stranger.

My wife does not agree, but she always wakes up happy! Also, if a woman were mute, how could she consent? You want it on a post-it-note? I am not justifying this guy's crime, I am telling you what his crime actually was. It was not fondling like the headline says. It was touching without consent, implied or otherwise. Do you guys seriously ask women "Can I kiss you?" Then "Can I touch your thigh?" Then "Can I touch you here?" Then "Can we do it?" Come on. Think. Most consent is implied, not spoken. And this guy not neither. So its a crime.

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HeyLars-- I understand what you're saying, though "implied consent" is tricky and can be abused. It's the same kind of argument that can be used in domestic violence cases. But we're not talking about that, so yeah. This guy should not have been feeling up this woman in her sleep, which is the point.

Sounds like it must have been knee highs too, there's no way he could have reached all the up her skirt like that without waking her up somehow unless she was drugged or something. What was this dirtbag thinking? Why can't some men just keep their hands to themselves? Ugh.

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kokorocloud said: This guy should not have been feeling up this woman in her sleep, which is the point.

Getting warmer. He should not have been feeling up a woman who had offered no form of consent whatsoever. The facts that he did not know her and that she was sleeping just make it clearer that he did not have consent.

though "implied consent" is tricky and can be abused.

The balance between the sexes is tricky. There is no magic bullet. We can sit back and dream of getting women's permission in words, recorded on an IC recorder for extra safety, but how many women are going to go for that? It doesn't work that way, and frankly, the way people don't understand it gives me pause. Men get falsely accused and hassled, but women are not having any of our bright ideas about verbal consent. This is guy is fairly judged it seems, but if we get the reasons wrong, we will misjudge the next case.

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Sorry, I meant to type thigh high's earlier. Definitely thighs over knees.

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Hmm "pulled down her stockings and was touching her legs". We have to assume these weren't pantyhose or the like, because you're not pulling them down without some sort of cooperation in the part of the wearer. Thigh-highs usually require similar cooperation if the wearer is sitting down (i.e. moving to the edge of the seat). Knee-high and lower can be pulled down without help, but if this was "fondling", why is he trying to expose the skin down there? Too many unanswered questions in this story.

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Just a quick message to note to those that are under the impression that this man was able to pull down the woman's stockings and fondle her legs without waking her up. The story clearly states that she woke up and complained.

Since there is no time reference given, we can probably assume the woman probably woke up right away and once she realized what was happening, made a complaint.

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.......Not a fireman...........I expect such actions from police but a fireman.......heck he could have simply said "excuse me miss, i am a fireman,may i please pull down your stockings and fondle you" ....firemen should be chick magnets........works in the U.S.......

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He probably read about a similar incident in a manga and thought he could pull it off. Too bad she wasn't on the "same page." BUSTED!!

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Once I was on the Odakyu line heading for Fujisawa from Shinjuku, and after we got out of the city, this young pervert (man/20 something) was pretending to sleep with his arms folded and hands crossed in his armpits. The girl (young 20's) was stacked for a J-lady and this guy was pretending to lean as he slept (like many students do on trains) and his hands under his arm pits just happened to budge right into the girls breasts, who was also pretending to sleep. I saw this go on for about 3 minutes, then I stood up and kicked the guys shoes firmly and told him to straighten up. But that's as far as I went. He continued to dose, though without leaning quite so far. And the girl never budged from her so-called slumber. This was a few years ago, and I don't think it could happen nowadays, but then again.....

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Point is, sometimes, somewhere, the women feel stunned (like on the Green Car rape issue) and can't respond, or pretend its not happening. J-girls used to be/are still? a little of this tendency. And while we're at it, tonight on the way home on the Yamanote line, I couldn't ignore seeing this "Young Champion" magazine (330 yen) with nothing but teenaged (or below?) girls in bathing suit poses. How they raise them here is how they become later on. Who the heck is the Young Champion market, 12 year olds? 330 yen is not that far a reach, and they're avaiable for free pickings at most convenient stores. So I'm not at all surprised to hear of this "fondling a passenger" in a overnight bus trip scenerio, are you?

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and furthermore, what the xxx is a 26-year old woman allowing herself to be cramped in an obviously cramped bus seat, overnight (?) from Morioka to Tokyo for? Don't you think she should ask before the ticket is issued to sit only next to a woman. (as in period?!) "Oh, I'm sorry mam, but the person being seated next to you is a 24-year old fireman. Will that be alright?" "Oh, if he's a fireman, then I guess......" "xxxx no. Give me a seat next to a lady or get me on another bus." Don't you think?

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This story gives new meaning to "being on the hot seat."

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Give me a seat next to a lady or get me on another bus." Don't you think?

Yeah. Then she only has to deal with female fondlers. (Yes, they exist)

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Fadamor, I fail to agree. Everyone is suspect, but young adult male is less or more likely to be source of trouble on an overnight ride than a female, no? Not at all? I may be wrong, but I imagine those buses to have rather tall seats which hides the peoples heads from the people in front or behind, different from the trains that we ride here. This too, promotes untoward activity. And again, the woman should never have chosen an overnight bus trip to Tokyo.....but in the end, its her problem.

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