crime

Mother arrested for fatally assaulting 2-year-old son

16 Comments

Police in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, have arrested a 27-year-old woman on suspicion of fatally abusing her two-year-old son in 2022.

Police said Mei Tashiro, whose occupation is unknown, is accused of beating her son Sora on April 23 last year at their home in Fujisawa, Kyodo News reported. Tashiro called 119 and told paramedics that her son had suddenly become ill.

The child died the following day at the hospital where he was receiving treatment. The hospital reported to police that he had multiple bruises on his body. Police said Tashiro has denied beating her son.

Police also revealed Tuesday that Sora was taken into protective custody at a children’s welfare center immediately following his birth in 2020 because Tashiro was suspected of child neglect due to her refusal to undergo any prenatal checkups. She was allowed to visit him during the next two years.

However, Sora was returned to his mother just three weeks before the alleged fatal abuse occurred. Around that time, Tashiro also canceled a scheduled visit to her home by child welfare authorities to check up on Sora.

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16 Comments
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However, Sora was returned to his mother just three weeks before the alleged fatal abuse occurred.

Without more details it is impossible to know if this was a justified decision from the children's welfare center, but obviously it resulted in tragedy. Was there anything that could have been done differently? The cancellation of the schedule visit seems to be a huge red flag for the authorities to do something immediately.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

I wonder if anyone has any regret or feels bad about what happen under... their watch.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Police also revealed Tuesday that Sora was taken into protective custody at a children’s welfare center immediately following his birth in 2020 because Tashiro was suspected of child neglect due to her refusal to undergo any prenatal checkups. She was allowed to visit him during the next two years.

No matter what you might think of the mother in this case, I am appaled at the cruelty of this system. Prenatal checkups are meant to ensure the healthiness of the mother and the child, not to speculate about some abuse that may or may not have happened. First and foremost, the child belongs to its parents, not the authorities who apparently can just take away the child after birth simply because the mother didn't want to do any health checkups. That practice is something only seen in authoritarian states, and now Japan too.

-6 ( +3 / -9 )

Mei Tashiro has proved beyond a doubt that she has killed her two year son Sora in a long-carried-out, cruel abuse since his birth. She should be punished in prison for her son Sora's horrific murder, sterlized when released and, banned for life from adopting a child or, to work as a child carer.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

Is it not strange how we need a license to sell hotdogs on the street, but there are absolutely no prerequisites to becoming a parent.

RIP to little Sora who deserved much better, and hopefully there's a special place in Hell reserved for his scumbag of a mother.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

I hope she gets a strong sentence. In many cases on the news, child killers seem to get away too easy compare to other criminal cases. I hope legal system in japan recognises the children as a human beings and sentence the killers accordingly. So far it doesn’t seem so based on the cases i see on the news.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

She couldn't manage three weeks? After 2 years in child custody. Why did she take him back? Why didnt she give him back?

4 ( +4 / -0 )

Those of us with children know how much our wives' instincts of love and protection kick into overdrive during those first years of a child's lives. Often men almost pushed aside by their wives during these years, the mothers' being so dedicated to the child. A case like this must involve some serious mental illness for that instinct to be 'shut off' such that something like this can occur.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

@Dennis Schulman

I wonder what country you live in. I have a friend who was playing with his son in his yard. The son broke his ankle return to school the following week and Child Protection Services was at his home. They asked him to come to their office which he complied. At the meeting they claimed they had been to his home several times and during a recent interview with him it was recorded that because of his culture they use spankings as discipline. My friend and his wife was shocked knowing no one had ever been to their home. His wife is also Japanese and she to her husband I didn’t know you were Indian from India. The mother immediately said you guys have the wrong people. My friend said at the front of the table there was a file 10 inches thick. When the wife said what culture are you talking about the supervisor and the others who were at the meeting asked my friend and his wife to give them a few minutes. They returned saying we made a big mistake. My friend and his wife came to the conclusion that when they were asked to come down and they separated everyone and interviewed everyone and took their son to another room their intentions was to take their child away from them. My friend and his wife did not let them off easy they took them to court and received a huge settlement which they used to pay for their son’s education. THE POINT IS EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE YOUR CHILDREN IN THE USA THEY WILL TAKE THEM AWAY FROM YOU. IN THIS CASE THEY FAILED BECAUSE THEY They caused major stress on the family

First and foremost, the child belongs to its parents, not the authorities who apparently can just take away the child after birth simply because the mother didn't want to do any health checkups. That practice is something only seen in authoritarian states, and now Japan too.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

There are far too many shocking news stories like this in my past 3 years in the country. Clearly, this society has a problem when young children keep dying at the hands of abusive or neglectful parents. My feeling is child welfare services are too protected. I have a 2 year old and I would welcome any service that investigates her safety and healthy upbringing. We are not talking about ideology here. It's not that she just missed a few appointments,.it's that she obviously had a history of big problems and when the flags were raised, they took the child to a safe environment. ...unfortunately, for the child, rip, that protection was dismantled by the will of the murderer.

Services her need to show some teeth. Get those kids out and to safe environments. Parents need to commit to real change. Normal jobs, sobriety testing, visits, counselling, ... Don't like it? Tough. Child's rights should be protected over yours!!!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

A child is a human being and does not 'belong' to anybody. The parents are the primary carers and if they fail to protect their child from danger society (authorities) must step in to protect the life of one of its citizens.

Nonsense. Parents are the automatic legal guardians who are legally responsible for the child. Therefore the child does belong to the parents.

Also, the guy clearly said that it's cruel to take away the child if the mother is refusing health checkups. Which I agree with. Could they perhaps ask the mother and launch a probe into the hows and why? Sure. But flat out taking away the kid just because health checkups were missed? That's more than cruel. Plus she wasn't able to take her child for two years, ad the article states.

I don't know how anyone can defend this behaviour by Japanese authorities. What if the mother were a foreigner who came to Japan pregnant and thus missed previous checkups? What if the mother wanted a natural birth without any assistance like in the U.S.? In both cases, there'd be no ill intentions but in Japan they'd take your child away. And people in this comment section seem to be in favor of that, really sad.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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