Man suspected of sexually molesting women walking home on at least 15 occasions

Police in Tokyo said that a 27-year-old man arrested for sexually molesting a woman walking home has admitted to doing the same thing to at least 15 women.

Hayate Sato, a company employee, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of molesting the woman in her 30s as she walked home in Edogawa Ward in March last year, Sankei Shimbun reported. The woman told police a man whom she did not know suddenly came up behind her and forcibly hugged her and groped her body.

Police said Sato has admitted to the charge and quoted him as saying he had been drinking and was riding a bike home from work when he saw the woman exit JR Koiwa Station. He followed her on his bike for about two kilometers until they were in an area where nobody else was around. He then got off his bike, ran behind the woman and dragged her into a secluded area.

Police said Sato, who was identified through street surveillance camera footage, told he had been stressed at work and that he had taken out his frustration by groping women on at least 15 occasions in the same area in Edogawa Ward.

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