A court in Sapporo on Friday sentenced a 27-year-old man to seven years in prison for kidnapping a 9-year-old girl and confining her at his apartment.
The court heard that Rina Hataya, a student at Higashi-Sapporo Elementary School, disappeared on Jan 27 after telling her mother that she was going to buy a notebook for school. She was found six days later unharmed after being kept confined in the apartment of Hajime Matsui who lured her to follow him by pretending to be a policeman.
After questioning the girl’s friends and the family’s neighbors, police released Hataya's photo to the media, appealing for public help.
On the night of Feb 2, police received a call from Matsui's neighbor, stating, "There is a suspicious man living nearby who is always carrying comic books intended for young girls...I don't know for sure, but he might be related to the case of the missing girl."
A taxi driver also told police that Matsui had been a passenger in his cab.
Police waited outside the apartment and when Matsui came out, they asked if the missing girl was inside. Matsui said no but police asked to search his apartment and found the girl inside.
According to police, the girl had never met Matsui before and said she was approached by Matsui in the parking lot near her house as she was returning home.
Matsui's apartment is about 350 meters from the girl's home.
In handing down the seven-year sentence, the presiding judge said Matsui committed a heartless act just to satisfy his own desires, NTV reported.
However, Hayata's parents expressed dissatisfaction with the sentence, saying it was too light and that Matsui showed no remorse during the trial. They said their daughter still suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
© Japan Today
24 Comments
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shallots
That is too light.
Mirai Hayashi
another softball sentence by the jgov. Hopefully he gets reformed, but if not, he will be a danger to society again in 7 years
hereforever
Hopefully other inmates will rehabilitate him before his 34th birthday.
sensei258
Once he's in the jail, just let it slip that he kidnapped a little girl, then he'll get the rehabilitation he needs.
warispeace
Right! Strangely enough, whether it is a violent crime or corporate negligence, a good sincere apology is usually sufficient here to reduce sentences even down to misdemeanors or get you off completely. Matsui really didn't play ball, so the parents still feel upset.
Disillusioned
He should have got double that! He will be out and no doubt recycling his twisted desires in his mid-30's. He gets seven years and his victim is scared for life! One can only hope that, japanese prisons have the same kind of 'prison justice' that kiddy fiddlers receive in other countries.
torosushi
kudos to the neighbour..! Bless you..
serendipitous
Actually seems like a harsh sentence for Japan considering murderers sometimes only get 10 years. All such sentences are too short.
CrazyJoe
The prosecutor asked for a 12 sentence. I tend to agree with the prosecutor.
DaDude
Wrong country. He will probably end up in jail with prisoners with similar offenses related to crime against children.
StormR
Too EASY, people who commit crimes against the children should get the maximum, 7 years is nothing and this monster will be roaming the streets to do it or worse again.
Nothing sacred or taboo here ?
20 years should be the starting point, and then with all the help he could get for his deranged head, this is a farce and if it was my child well, I should not say on here'
WilliB
sensei258:
I don´t think these US news media inspired phantasies about prison violence work in Japan, so we can please do without it?
But I agree with others that the sentence is too light. This guy will probably try something like that again after being released.
Dre Hund
It would be interesting to make him speak about what he did. Why he put his needs above those of a girl and her family. Mke him listen to himself.
interuni321
7 years?! I'm usually the first to advocate liberal, shorter jail times, but seriously making it 30 years would probably be too light in this case. Such a short sentence will almost certainly encourage other crazies to follow in this guys footsteps.
Scrote
If the sentence for this crime were 25 or 30 years, i.e. the same as that for murder, the guy might have killed the girl as he would have had nothing to lose. There needs to be some incentive for these people not to kill their hostages.
WilliB
Scrote:
True, but if they had not found him in time, this very likely would have ended as murder too.
CraigHicks
Not convinced he is weighing the penalties to decide a course of action. His mind and heart are broken completely. Whenever he is let out there is a strong possibility he will do the same again. It's cruel to his next victim, and cruel to him too if you believe his soul is degraded by committing such a crime.
HonestDictator
I think the 7 years is reasonable if the child has not been shown to be sexually molested. Although I am pretty sure this was this mans intent he just didn't have the nerve (thankfully) to do so. If she was assaulted then yes, 7 years is too short.
Frungy
I think people are missing the point here. Whether he's let out at 34 or 47 he's still going to be young enough to do it again. The complete lack of rehabilitation and counseling in prisons makes sentence length irrelevant unless you make a "life sentence" really for life... in which case it would be cheaper and less cruel to just kill the person and have done if you have no intention of ever releasing them.
Prisons under the current ideology just become places for like-minded individuals to meet up, exchange notes and make sure they don't get caught next time.
Rather stick this guy in a psychiatric institution. At worst they'll drug him so heavily that he won't know who he is, never mind be able to formulate a plan to kidnap someone. At best they might actually cure him and save the taxpayer a ton of money.
Yardley
I believe pedophilia has a very low rehabilitation rate. I doubt he will be able to change in 7 years or 70. The challenge to our society is how to deal with these people.
ebisen
Castration...
toshiko
this is a kidnap case. The prosecutor should appeal to upper court.
Frungy
Actually there are studies from prisons in Canada and Germany using cognitive behavioural therapy that show otherwise. The approach is new, barely 15 years old, but the data coming out of those prisons shows that rehabilitation is possible, and with a recidivism (re-offense) rate MUCH lower than other sexual crimes.
The bottom line is that any country NOT giving pedophiles therapy in prison is failing its children.