Man gets suspended sentence for putting 3-year-old girl in washing machine and turning it on

The girl’s mother immediately noticed something was wrong after the washing machine began to fill and spin with water and contacted the police.

So it didn't stop until the mother noticed. Call it what it is: ATTEMPTED MURDER

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Hideaki Masui was sentenced Friday to two years and six months in prison, suspended for four years, Kyodo News reported.

What does this mean? I have never understood what this means. Why suspended? So he's free for four year and then is put in the slammer??

reached a settlement with his former partner

wow, how much did he need to pay to get away with that??

at least the new british-style dbs disclosure system will let everyone what he's like...

he's free for four year and then is put in the slammer??

it means he gets the TWO-AND-A-HALF year prison sentence for the "heinous and extremely selfish" crime but he doesn't actually go to prison if he keeps out of for trouble for the next FOUR years.

however if he does anything wrong within those FOUR years, he goes to prison for the TWO-AND-A-HALF years plus whatever time for the new offence.

so yes, he paid a lot of blood-money to avoid prison...

for now!!

disgusting, judgment incomprehensible

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Child will never forget the horror. And he gets away with it. Strange rulings in Japan.

Good ol' Japanese justice! The child could have died, but he's free to do beat her to death next time.

Jesus wept.

Suspended sentence. What a surprise!

and reached a settlement with his former partner, we should provide him with a chance to rehabilitate himself.”

So the mother had a price on how to forgive such an act?

Pathetic.

Hopefully the toddler won't remember the trauma as she gets older.

But how could the mother ever forget it?

Apparently a monetary number was enough.

In his ruling, Judge Konoda Junpei said, "Using violence against a child who was three years old is a heinous and extremely selfish act. But as the defendant has expressed remorse

Clearly this judge has no children, or at least didn't raise them. The perp deserves nothing but prison time.

Ridiculous. Wasn't he charged with attempted murder of a 3 year old child?

Absolute scum. How on earth wasn't this maggot not put in prison? Unbelievable.

I hope he never finds work again, becomes destitute, and is shunned by all in the community.

The judge is either corrupt or was intoxicated at the time of the ruling.

eye for eye tooth for tooth.

they should put him in big washing machine in coin loundry and forget abt him for abt 2 hrs...

Personality flaw in this man. 6 months in jail should get him off alcohol, but it won't be long enough to know if he's completely stopped drinking.

We all have parts of the family with alcohol problems. After treatment, some don't turn up again for many, many, years. It is a struggle for the rest of their lives and nobody can force them to stop. They have to choose it. The people I know who have been mostly successful, after 5 huge failures where they destroyed their lives each time, go to AA meetings daily, always. Even with that support system, they failed 4 times after the initial family-destroying-events happened. Fortunately for our family, he's been sober for over 20 yrs now. Prior to that, he'd make it 5-10 yrs before relapsing.

This mother needs to get away from this man and stay away with her child, at least until the child is self-sufficient. Any visits with the father, if he is the father, need to be supervised and only after many months of complete sobriety. A child needs a father with good, happy, memories. But not memories of physical or emotional harm. It can screw up a child for their entire life.

Man gets suspended sentence for putting 3-year-old girl in washing machine and turning it on

This headline is evidence the justice system here is broken.

This story came up a while ago here on Japan Today. It never even occurred to me what this guy would get as a punishment. I figured it would be pretty bad. This sentence is a bad joke. A nightmare joke.

Other people now won't be afraid to do this. I mean, what the hey. I'll have a record but I'll also have my freedom.

Zero consequences for his actions. I won't be surprised if the mom, his girlfriend, welcomes him back with open arms.

So the mother had a price on how to forgive such an act?

Pathetic.

A single mother, who might need the money to take care of her daughter.

The guy still went to court, so it's on the judge for not giving him any jail time.

He’s a monster a demonic creature with a soul darker than pitch black.

Why Japanese do not care about their kids,if this was America,he would be doing some serious time

as the defendant has expressed remorse

How do they decide when an adequate amount of genuine remorse has been shown for something as cruel as what Masui did?

With declining population Japan should protect its children more. Yet, the legal system in Japan is so pathetic that attempted murder of a 3 year old child gets a man a suspended sentence. Anyone defending this judgement ruling and Japan’s legal system is a pathetic embarrassment and an imbecile!

I can understand the anger and the frustration this man did not receive a harsher sentence.

With that said, the mother may have received quite a substantial sum and so she could start her life over with her daughter and if she is making only minimal wage would needed those funds. Life is really a struggle for any single person in Japan who is making minimal wages, and so, without knowing all the facts I will refrain from judging the mother.

The man is scum and most likely he will repeat his actions that is the sad part.

With that said, the mother may have received quite a substantial sum and so she could start her life over with her daughter and if she is making only minimal wage would needed those funds. Life is really a struggle for any single person in Japan who is making minimal wages, and so, without knowing all the facts I will refrain from judging the mother.

The maggot is an ex-construction worker.

"Substantial sum"?

What ever happened to the whole reform on laws to better protect children after Yua Funato's death back in March 2018?

Guess all that was exactly what I thought back then. A performance to show off "look, we're doing something" even after they all refused to help Yua back then.

The fact that the child did not die was thanks only to the mother. I don’t care if the man was intoxicated. He did something that is completely outside the realm of human behavior.And, I don’t care how much remorse he was able to demonstrate in court. I predict this monster is going to hurt more people.

Suspended sentence? For attempted murder? Unbelievable.

The only positive phrase in this article is "former partner". Thank god the mother came to her senses.

There should be no settlement with the mother as the little girl could have died.

Stupid Judge also to give just a slap on the wrist to this thug.

If he did it to a fog, he would get more punishment. It is disgusting crime by a court not recognising children as human being while many rats with person form are treated as a person. It’s a horrible decision by court.

Using violence against a child who was three years old is a heinous and extremely selfish act. But as the defendant has expressed remorse and reached a settlement with his former partner, we should provide him with a chance to rehabilitate himself.

'Rehabilitate himself'. Yeah, uh-huh. Sure he was drunk at the time but that's no excuse for what he did. It's child abuse, attempted murder and eventually it will resurface from the back of her mind. Then she will need professional help, now.

reached a settlement with his former partner

How about a swift kick in the butt bye-bye? This idiot hopefully will never get a GF ever again.

Fighto!Sep. 7  07:02 pm JST

Absolute scum. How on earth wasn't this maggot not put in prison? Unbelievable.

I hope he never finds work again, becomes destitute, and is shunned by all in the community.

The judge is either corrupt or was intoxicated at the time of the ruling.

I hope the judge himself gets disbarred and loses his license. He certainly ain't fit for the job, letting off the loonie lunkheads like this guy!

Absolute disgusting sentence for an attempted murder of a little 3yr old girl, this thug needed to be imprisoned for at least 15+yrs, and that is not really enough. As for that pretend judge, we can hope he will be disbarred and barred from the legal profession. He deserves no less.

Unlike in the West, in Japan the washing machines open up at the top. Thus, the kid's head would be above the waterline. If the kid was put in an European Front-Loader, then it would be attempted murder, but with a top loader it's much less certain.

Kazuaki Shimazaki

Unlike in the West, in Japan the washing machines open up at the top.

Not all washing machines, only the old type. They sell side loaders in Japan too, we have one. In this case, yes it was a top loader.

Thus, the kid's head would be above the waterline. If the kid was put in an European Front-Loader, then it would be attempted murder, but with a top loader it's much less certain.

Surely you are joking? The thing rotates mercilessly, and has a spin cycle too. If not attempted murder, how would you want to call it?

Human capacity for cruelty is mind boggling