crime

Police looking for man who gave 9-year-old girl tainted candy in park

28 Comments

Police are searching for a man who gave a 9-year-old girl candy that was laced with a powerful sleeping drug, in a Tokyo suburban park on July 29.

The girl collapsed and was foaming at the mouth and in a dazed state when she was found by a passerby in the park in Mizuho town, police said.

Police released the details to the media on Monday. The girl, who has since recovered, was quoted by police as saying that she was playing in Matsubaranishi Park at around 3:30 p.m. when a man she did not know approached her, NTV reported Tuesday. She said the man was very friendly and offered her what she perceived to be candy, and a Calpis drink.

Police said the girl began feeling ill and soon after, collapsed onto the sidewalk where she was found by a passerby. There was no sign of the man who gave her the candy, police said.

The girl was taken to hospital, where an analysis of her urine showed traces of a powerful sleeping drug, NTV reported.

According to police, the girl said the man was in his 20s, was of thin build and was wearing a black jacket.

Meanwhile, Sankei Shimbun reported that police are exploring a possible connection to another similar case on Aug 2 in which a 10-year-old boy was also offered candy by a man near where the July 29 incident took place.

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28 Comments
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As others: Rule 101, have your children know that they NEVER accept food or drinks of anyone except trusted people. Find this dangerous person soon!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

A lot of it is the wording. When you tell kids not to talk to strangers, well they're thinking someone who looks or acts strange or scary. They don't necessarily associate 'stranger' with "someone you don't know". This guy seemed nice and was friendly and obviously not scary looking, and that's how a lot of kids get caught. He's not 'strange' at all, must be ok.

Children should be taught not to speak to 'people they don't know' unless they are with a parent, unless it is a police officer or shop clerk. And they definitely shouldn't accept candy from someone they don't know.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

*"Don't take candy from strangers." It's such an ingrained part of American culture that it spawned a Comedy Central series that ran for three years called, "Strangers with Candy," a parody of the morality/common sense heavy after-school TV specials that were an integral part of any kid's life growing up in the 80s.

There isn't a Japanese co-worker or friend that I've spoken with about this story that hasn't said, "Why in the world would a 9-year-old be so foolish at to accept candy from a perfect stranger?!" So it’s clearly not just a Western sentiment to be stunned that she would do so.

This isn't placing blame on the little girl. The warped individual who gave her the laced candy is squarely to blame and should be punished accordingly if and when he's caught. But it's not unreasonable to criticize what seems to be A) a lack of common sense on the part of this little girl, B) a serious lapse in fundamental parenting for failing to drill basic safety into this girl's head, or a combination of both.

Refusing, out of some false sense of compassion, to shine a light of scrutiny on this little girl and her poor judgment only serves to perpetuate, if not increase, the chances that something like this will happen again, possibly with more dire consequences. This little girl is lucky to be alive, but only through sheer luck.

One thing that disturbs me in particular about this story is that despite the event taking place on July 29th, more than a month ago, it only hit the Japanese news wires yesterday. That's a lot of time for the culprit to possibly refine his technique and try it again elsewhere. If news is to have any value to a society and serve the public good, then it needs to be disseminated in a much more timely fashion.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Iluisa, I saw a clip on the news yesterday where they interviewed both the girl and her mother (their faces were blurred out and their voices changed). The mother was clearly not a native speaker of Japanese, maybe Filipino? I'm not saying she is to blame, just don't speak too soon or make assumptions before you know the facts.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Time to patrol the parks!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Mirai Hayashi, I agree that we are not blaming the victim. I am sure that she has learned a valuable lesson. That lesson is to wait until Halloween when every parents sends their children to beg for candy from complete masked strangers.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

legacy58Sep. 09, 2014 - 01:10PM JST Or maybe you're trying to blame the parents?

She is only 9 years old, where was her mother? Why was she playing alone in the park talking to a stranger?

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

sicko!!!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Life without parole is the only solution to this guy's problems. Sick, sick, sick!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Grrrrrrr! Sick-O! The cops need to catch this Sick-O and the justice system needs to make sure he doesn't walk free again, even if it costs taxpayers millions of yen.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Hopefully nothing went on between the time she passed out and the time she was found.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Also I believe 9 is old enough to realize that if a random guy offers candy and a drink, he has bad intentions. I originally thought this article was going to be about a Kindergartner.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

We need the scoundrel who did this to a child to be apprehended soon and to be taken off the streets but parents need to realise to the fact that there is a dangerous world out there and we as parents need to arm our children with some survival skills like e.g. not accepting anything from a stranger etc... Glad she has survived this ordeal.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

When I saw this on the news I could still hear my parents saying "NEVER accept anything from a stranger ! I could be poison !" I also thought all parent taught their kids that simple rule...

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I see. I misread. English is not my first language.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Agreed with Mirai here... Kids should be taught not to accept things from strangers. @legacy58, its not so much the blame game as it is what should be common sense. If a kid is old enough to play without adult supervision, they should have been sufficiently taught what to do when encountering a stranger and how to play safely. This is stuff like staying where other adults or children are, not going off with strangers or accepting gifts from unknown people...etc. we were hammered this kind of stuff when I was a kid.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Jimbly: it's not just kids in Japan, it's kids in general. Regardless of how many times you tell them not to talk to strangers or what have you, sickos like this can find a way around it.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Wakarimasen Yoyogi Park??? Again?? Poor kid.

it isn't Yoyogi park... read the article.

Matsubaranishi Park is in Mizuho West Tokyo not far from Yokota base

I agree Mirai - some kids are a bit too trusting in Japan... i was reading recently about that Tsutomu Miyazaki, how he would offer kids a lift etc and they accepted. I thought not trusting strangers would be drilled into kids at kindergarden age. I know i was at that age.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Sick wacko! You should never accept candy from a stranger, of course (kid or otherwise), but it's easy to take advantage of naïveté regardless of how much you drill it into someone. Hope they catch the guy.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

In our country Philippines, we teach our children not to talk or even accept what strangers gave to them. I just hope japanese parents will teach their children not to talk to starngers.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Agreed Mirai, sheesh even I remember all those books I read and being told in elementary school/kindergarten to not even talk to strangers, let alone take anything from them.... Because there are very dangerous people out in the world that actually do target little children.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

ugh that is jusT terrible and scary. bit that's why if I have a child I am not going to let them be alone like that. anyway thank god that it didn't kill the children. but I mean the guy didn't even try to kidnap them or even really violate them physically... it's scary because he probably was just watching them passed out from a distance. wtf does this gut want?

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

When they find this sicko, there needs to be some serious jail time to set an example for other sicko's. Hope parents take this as a warning to teach their young ones about accepting anything from strangers.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Yoyogi Park??? Again?? Poor kid.

-6 ( +0 / -6 )

@Mirai Hayashi

Very classy, blaming the nine-year old victim. Or maybe you're trying to blame the parents? Either way, you're completely off. Stop the blame game sideshow, as there's only one person to blame, and that's the perp.

1 ( +8 / -7 )

Seriously, im out of words. Please find this sob quick and make sure he never sees the light of day again. Ever.

7 ( +11 / -4 )

Has the world gone mad? WTF is wrong with you that you give a child tainted candy! May karma crush your balls.

8 ( +13 / -5 )

Not to blame the victim, but weren't these kids taught NOT to accept candy from strangers? This is like #1 rule in the childhood 101 rule book.

14 ( +25 / -11 )

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