Sapporo man arrested for kidnapping 14-year-old girl he met on social media

Sickening, lock him up for a long time.

Does it have to be called 'Sapporo Man'? That makes the entire Sapporo doesn't feel good.

Don’t fall for it !! - There is an ‘absolutely insidious’ emerging element, ‘on the fringe of the rainbow’, that are trying to desensitize society and blur the time-honored lines about ‘love’ & consensual age. Now that some minorities are gaining acceptance, “*these sick beasts” are now trying to superimpose their “butterfly of big & small, pink & blue hearts” over *the rainbow flag.

“Police said the girl was unharmed and are questioning her and Botani on the circumstances that led to her being taken to Sapporo.”

It sounds like she wanted to run away from home. The man offered her a place to stay. She said ok. Once she got there, she realized her new life was not all that great, and she missed home.

It sounds like buyer's remorse on the part of the young girl, and the security guard will have to pay the price.

The young girl probably has some responsibility in this situation because we do not know what she is telling this people online to get attention. This true for a lot of these situations!

If the girl never initiated th plan then it is all the man's fault, but if the you girl is telling him how terrible it is at home and that she needs to leave then some responsibility falls on her.

There's an awful lot of questions raised by this story!

How did they get to Sapporo? To drive would take more than a day!

Also very strange that they found them at the airport, but I thought the man had the girl at his residence?

Oh for follow up reporting in Japan (which never happens).

 Police from Chiba flew to Sapporo and found the two at New Chitose Airport.

Why didn't they just have the Hokkaido police dept. go pick them up?

it's the same old story all over again. It really boggles me why a young girl would even consider leaving with a complete stranger to a far-away place and not feel even a sliver of unease and danger. There's little to go about with this case, but it's just alarming that this persists. With the pandemic worsening the socio-economic situation, I can only hope that this won't get worse.

Anyone thinking the girl is at fault at ANY level in this case needs to reexamine their own sense of morality. A 14 year old child has 0 sense of the realities of the world. A 36 year old man knows EXACTLY what he's doing when communicating with a child who may be dillusioned by her home life. Why is he even talking with this child to begin with? Does anyone think his intentions were honorable, in any stretch of the definition of the word?

@Ken Holcomb

Anyone thinking the girl is at fault at ANY level in this case needs to reexamine their own sense of morality. A 14 year old child has 0 sense of the realities of the world. A 36 year old man knows EXACTLY what he's doing when communicating with a child who may be dillusioned by her home life. Why is he even talking with this child to begin with? Does anyone think his intentions were honorable, in any stretch of the definition of the word?

Exactly! Those who justify his acts are pedofiles themselves! These sickening people should be put behind bars!

Though, there’s NOTHING to ‘debate’ here really. - The ‘suspect’ is ‘most likely’ an ‘advantageous child-seeking predator’. These beasts are often prowling’ social media ‘for vulnerable teens & pre-pubescents’.

This guy is first to blame and he is a dirtbag. Another thing is parents need to get their kids to get out more and do things like sports and/or family outings to stay away from smartphones. Too many stories like this happening lately by girls meeting people off the internet partly due to being disconnected from their families.

Snowymountainhell

I don't disagree with some of it, but calling the AoC "time-honored" is a bit nutty. It is barely withing the last 100 years that even half the world thought 15-16 was a fair starting point. Just before that, most places with an AoC law of any kind were from around 10-12 years old.

In any case, not saying this was a good situation or trying to excuse it, but time-honored is a huuuge stretch IMO.

This is so disgusting.

Anyone thinking the girl is at fault at ANY level in this case needs to reexamine their own sense of morality. 

That would be the Japanese government that has set the age of consent at 13, with no plans to change it, at least in the near future. I don't remember if the article concerning age of consent I read was here on Japan Today or on another site, but it was sometime last week. The difference in age is what might get him.

She’s already been a victim beforehand and even without the kidnapping. A victim of parents, education system, social media etc. or some or all of that. Otherwise she couldn’t have met him online or even develop a strong wish to leave her family , friends and living place and even risk quite some dangers about she’s not even been taught in a school lesson or at home. In other words, there’s much wrong already systemic or in principle, and long time before all such cases really happen in practice.

There is no much details, and the guy may have tried to be a good samaritean and shelter the girl from an abusive family.

However, under the Japanese law the girl is a minor, and taking her somewhere without the consent of the guardians is considered kidnapping and gets you arrested. Regardless of circumstances or good/bad intentions.

As usual this blurb of a story does not give sufficient information to determine if the guy is a predator that should be burned at the stake, or the girl sought help from her home situation leading to this situation. And everybody chimes in as if they know which it is. If they met on Social Media per the article there will be plenty of evidence to make that determination.

SpeedToday 09:04 am JST

Police from Chiba flew to Sapporo and found the two at New Chitose Airport.

Why didn't they just have the Hokkaido police dept. go pick them up?

Because the girl is living in Chiba and not in Hokkaido and police has to bring her back to her mother.

Ken HolcombToday 09:19 am JST

Anyone thinking the girl is at fault at ANY level in this case needs to reexamine their own sense of morality. A 14 year old child has 0 sense of the realities of the world. 

You have no idea about what children - even those much younger than 14 - are doing nowadays.

Maybe inform yourself about juvenile delinquency.

Check out juvenile incarceration statistics worldwide.

Another sick adult taking advantage of a confused teenager. I hope he gets locked up for a long time

Once again here, when facts are few experts are many.

AoC norms WERE different THEN* *@lolwut 9:59am but, we’re not living “100 years” ago when “half the world” were still agrarian-based communities and teenagers married each other to merge family interests, perpetuate livelihoods, extend land holdings and guarantee some kind of future care for their elders.

*- @lolwut 9:59am: “not saying this was a good situation or trying to excuse it, but …“It is barely within the last 100 years half the world thought 15-16 was fair. Just before that, most places were from around 10-12 years old.” -*

How about just saying ‘what exactly it is’ You agree or, disagree with rather than focusing on the semantics of some else’s point? -

*- @9:59am: “I don't disagree with some of it, but …”*

That aside, looking forward to reading Your opinion condoning or rebuking adults inappropriately seeking out children for relationships in the 21st Century.

Not enough details to understand what happened. The article says "lured"... I assume that once again refers to the usual contact on social media?

In either case, he should have known she is 14, so no excuse.

Agree ‘in part’ @Zaphod 3:23pm, many here are “lured” by the headline but,

“Not enough details to understand what happened.” -

Since the @12:18pm “scenario is likely”, isn’t this other also likely?:

@9:30am: “The ‘suspect’ is an ‘advantageous child-seeking predator’. These beasts are often prowling’ social media ‘for vulnerable teens & pre-pubescents’. “

I like how all of a sudden everybody here becomes detectives and judges at the same time.

So fast in making judgement with what only 3/4 paragraphs in front of them.

THEG

I like how all of a sudden everybody here becomes detectives and judges at the same time.

Welcome to the readers section!

If the girl never initiated th plan then it is all the man's fault, but if the you girl is telling him how terrible it is at home and that she needs to leave then some responsibility falls on her

Nope. He's 36, she's 14. It's 100% that man's fault.

Does it have to be called 'Sapporo Man'? That makes the entire Sapporo doesn't feel good

Now you know how people from Florida feel.

We do not have much information but in the end it is a defeat for the society.

A 14 year old girl (not a child or a baby) with problems who nobody wants to hear. An "adult" who does not behave like a real adult.

If the problem was the girl's family (domestic violence? Too high expectations? This crazy japanese society?) ... well there is a problem.

If a 14-year-old cannot overcome difficulties (bullying? domestic violence? loneliness?) and asking for help from adults around her ... well there is a problem.

If the adults around her are a 36-year-old (remember.. from Sapporo) who spends his time on social media looking for teenagers ... there's a problem.

Here we are all victims, it is useless to blame just one of the two. Thinking of him as a monster and her as a stupid only serves to absolve us... because we don't want to accept that our beautiful society can produce similar results.

The men who take advantage of young girls are sick animals and a danger to society.

And the men who defend those men and put blame on the girl are just as bad.

YohanToday  12:15 pm JST

You have no idea what I know about children, do you?

Nevermind, I'm truly not interested in your response. Children's minds are not developed enough to at the age of 18, much less 14, to fully be cognizant of their decisions and actions. This is a proven, scientific fact.

Apparently in some, this lack of cognizant ability extends past the age of consent.

Glad she still has her phone, Glad she was unharmed, Not sure what to make of this man and what was he thinking??

My only question is if the man whom she was with had any intention on harming her why did he continue to allow the girl whom everyone assumes was in immediate danger have her cellphone and was allowed to call her mom? Cellphones can be tracked, if this guy kidnapped her and had any deviant intent, a so call smart criminal would have got rid of the cellphone and would have stayed away from high traffic areas such as airports. There is much more to this than being reported.

Ah, the tines of the pitchforks are sharpened and the torches lit, who's got the rope? Why do we assume an arbitrary age for the 'ability to manipulate others' when we see these stories? Where was this girl posting her 'needs', what was their dialog, and can we really assume that all 36 year old males have developed beyond a 14 year old's mentality? Nor does being a 'security guard' at 36yo suggest broad mentality. And while 'paranoia' has been recommended for this girl, she lives in one of the most civilized (and 'innocent', really) societies on this planet, they both do, and even the police seem to have questioned his 'motivations' because, while they were "...found the two at New Chitose Airport.", he "...was arrested at his home". The question of who 'lured' who requires a much deeper knowledge of the facts here. But so many minds see ONLY black and white and their own expectations, without any shades of grey and no hint of hue, and it must be sad to live in just a two bit world, either 0 or 1, of emotional color...

The men who take advantage of young girls are sick animals and a danger to society.

Fair enough. But what about men who attempt take care of young girls? We've no idea from this article what actually happened. If he lured her, then he's a scumbag. If he offered to help her, then what is he?

The men who take advantage of young girls are sick animals and a danger to society.

The men who take advantage of young girls are products of your (and my) society, the same society you consider in danger.

One thing sticks in my mind, that the girl was, after a few days, unharmed. It's assumed that she is a sexual victim but it seems not to be the case. What if it were a boy? Or the 'perpetrator' were female? The double standard gets in the way of common sense.

Ah, the disturbing conflation of those that seek to justify inappropriate relationships between adults and children.  Warned early yesterday they would show themselves here: - “There is an ‘absolutely insidious’ element that are trying to desensitize society and ‘blur lines’. Don’t fall for it !! ” - 

These predators seek to “groom” children, confusing their developing questions of the complex concepts of maturity, mentality, romance and ‘love’. They want to perpetuate an absolutely perverse notion that children have a power to seduce immature adults into romantic relationships and sexual encounters.

To those points, a possible example herein:

“Why do we assume an arbitrary age for the 'ability to manipulate others' when we see these stories? 

Where was this girl posting her 'needs', what was their dialog, 

and can we really assume that all 36 year old males have developed beyond a 14 year old's mentality? 

Nor does being a 'security guard' at 36yo suggest broad mentality. 

They insidiously try to manipulate others into questioning these cases are ‘misunderstandings’, demanding ‘due process’ of criminals’ right FIRST, over those of children and victims. These predators of children try to infer there was doubt in the minds of society & law enforcement. More examples of such questioning could presumedly be found in the following:

“And while 'paranoia' has been recommended for this girl, she lives in one of the most civilized (and 'innocent', really) societies on this planet, they both do, and even the police seem to have questioned his 'motivations' because, while they were "...found the two at New Chitose Airport.", he "...was arrested at his home". The question of who 'lured' who requires a much deeper knowledge of the facts here.

Ask yourselves: If it were Your teenage daughter, or son, alone in the company of of an adult 3 times their age, for 4-5 days, would you question the aid of law enforcement?

And finally, this vile minority of child predators try to warp the majority of society’s reasonable ideals & ethics into distortions that society is wrong for demanding morality and justice. Other probable examples:

Ah, the tines of the pitchforks are sharpened and the torches lit, who's got the rope?” 

But so many minds see ONLY black and white and their own expectations, without any shades of grey and no hint of hue, and it must be sad to live in just a two bit world, either 0 or 1, of emotional color..”

Don’t question yourselves or this case. People have innate morality, general ideas of right & wrong’ and acceptable behaviors. There words and actions convert which side they choose t take.

When kids are left alone in their rooms disconnected from their families and having nothing else to do but browsing and socializing on their phones where all the CREEPS are these days, we will see more and more of these cases.

Nevermind, I'm truly not interested in your response. Children's minds are not developed enough to at the age of 18, much less 14, to fully be cognizant of their decisions and actions. This is a proven, scientific fact.

Utter nonsense. And if you’re “truly not interested” in the response why did you bother to respond.

William BjornsonToday 12:01 am JST

Ah, the tines of the pitchforks are sharpened and the torches lit, who's got the rope? Why do we assume an arbitrary age for the 'ability to manipulate others' when we see these stories? Where was this girl posting her 'needs', what was their dialog, and can we really assume that all 36 year old males have developed beyond a 14 year old's mentality? Nor does being a 'security guard' at 36yo suggest broad mentality. And while 'paranoia' has been recommended for this girl, she lives in one of the most civilized (and 'innocent', really) societies on this planet, they both do, and even the police seem to have questioned his 'motivations' because, while they were "...found the two at New Chitose Airport.", he "...was arrested at his home". The question of who 'lured' who requires a much deeper knowledge of the facts here. But so many minds see ONLY black and white and their own expectations, without any shades of grey and no hint of hue, and it must be sad to live in just a two bit world, either 0 or 1, of emotional color...

I think you should entitle this post "In Defense of the Rape of Little Girls and Pedophilia". Apt, isn't it.

Grown men lusting after 14 year old girls.

Grown men defending men who lust after little girls.

Grown men actively blaming little girls for the men who lust after them.

girl_in_tokyo

Grown men lusting after 14 year old girls.

Grown men defending men who lust after little girls.

Grown men actively blaming little girls for the men who lust after them.

The only thing factual in your post is that the guy is a grown man. The rest is projection and imagination.

snowymountainhell

Don’t question yourselves or this case. People have innate morality, general ideas of right & wrong’ and acceptable behaviors. There words and actions convert which side they choose t take.

Actually, we do not know that. How to arrive at a universal system of ethics is an interesting philosophical question. There have been (and there are) very different societies in history and in the world, with very different concepts of morality, so the claim that there is one "innate morality" is clearly false.

girl_in_tokyoToday 07:35 am JST

Grown men lusting after 14 year old girls.

Grown men defending men who lust after little girls.

Grown men actively blaming little girls for the men who lust after them.

Reverse the gender, about the same worldwide seen, this is not only a one way road.

You cannot deny that female sex offenders do exist and they are strongly defended by feminists blaming the boys who are minors and still in high school and even in elementary school.

Just do a google seach.

snowymountainhell

May have left out some ‘keywords’:

- “@6:15am: “Don’t question yourselves, or this case. **GOOD People have ‘an innate morality’, general ideas of ‘right & wrong’ and acceptable behaviors. Their words and actions convey which side they choose to** take.” -

The definition of "GOOD" depends on the morality, which as explained depends on the society. So that is circular logic. Fact is, there is no universally agreed upon morality. Although of course it would be nice if all societies could agree on a shared system of ethics.

Fact is, there is no universally agreed upon morality.

Really? I think murder for entertainment would be considered an affront to morality in all societies. Which makes me suspect we could probably find a few others than are common across them all.

Just to clear things up on the whole Age of Consent issue

In Japan the age of consent is low at 13, although some municipalities such as Tokyo prohibit sexual activity under 18 years old in most circumstances.

https://www.theweek.co.uk/92121/ages-of-consent-around-the-world

and

In 1907, the Penal Code of Japan set a minimum age of consent of 13. Since then, Japan's age of consent has not changed. In fact, it's the third-lowest in the world. The age of consent in the Philippines used to be 12, but following widespread outcry, a proposal was passed last year to raise the age of consent to 16.

https://historyofyesterday.com/why-is-the-age-of-consent-in-japan-only-13-year-old-e4363d0ea679

And just as an aside: The lowest Age of Consent in the world is 11, in Nigeria. 2nd lowest is 12 in Angola.

The highest Age of Consent in the world is 21 in Bahrain. The second-highest age of consent is 20 in South Korea.

https://www.ageofconsent.net/highest-and-lowest

Very light on detail, Sapporo man could be the victim here remember he met her online and could the be that he don't view her at all. Girl could been acting 18 telling Sapporo man she is in a bad place has no money or job and her family is kicking her out. Sapporo man tell her she can stay at his place and send her the money to travel to his place. She turns up at Sapporo a few days latter. Sapporo man realise that the girl is a minor and tell the girl to rang her parent to come to the airport the next day to pick her up. That the only sense I can make out of the details and why Sapporo man meet them at the airport.

ZaphodAug. 11 05:28 pm JST

The only thing factual in your post is that the guy is a grown man. The rest is projection and imagination.

Oh, I see. So this man spent time grooming this little girl and then brought her to his home because he didn't have any sexual interest her. Okay.

And all the men here who are downvoting my posts are not downvoting me because I am condemning pedophilia, but because ... well, some other reason. Hmm. Okay.

And of course, all the men saying that this girl must have done something to entice this man are not defending pedophilia. They are simply pointing out that when little 14 year old girls entice grown men it's not the fault of the grown man that he acts on his sexual desires. Got it. Thanks for clarifying for all of us.

YohanAug. 11 08:13 pm JST

Reverse the gender, about the same worldwide seen, this is not only a one way road.

You cannot deny that female sex offenders do exist and they are strongly defended by feminists blaming the boys who are minors and still in high school and even in elementary school.

I see. You are condemning me for writing a post that makes excuses for grown women who lure 14 year old boys to their homes and keep them there. Funny, but I don't recall ever writing such a post.

However, I do see more than 20 posts here by men who are happily making excuses for a grown man who lured a 14 year old girl to his home.

I didn't notice you condeming them, but maybe I just missed that post?

This guy was arrested for kidnapping. Nothing else. We can equally assume that he just wanted company. We don't know yet. Anything beyond the kidnapping is speculation.

It really does boggle my mind how many men here are blaming a little girl for a grown man having sexual interest in her.

Little girls get crushes; they are flattered by attention. This is natural and normal. But a grown man looking at a 14 year old, sexualizing her, and taking advantage of her crush to groom her for a sexual relationship? This should disgust each and every one of you, but for some reason it doesn't.

This just illustrates how heartless and cold men are, how little respect they have for girls and women, and how willing they are to abandon morality and use a child for their selfish sexual release.

I say "men" because there are multiple men here defending this man. That's plural, more than one.

And the good men, the men who are actively condemning these posts, know quite well that I'm not talking about them and that I appreciate that they have spoken up.

I only wish there were more of them.

girl_in_tokyoToday  11:10 am JST

It really does boggle my mind how many men here are blaming a little girl for a grown man having sexual interest in her.

I just read the first 10 posts; 5 spoke out directly against the man, 2 put some blame on the girl but with one of those also claiming the man if the girl ddi not initiate the contact, and the other 3 placed no blame on anyone.

Now if the story gave different details, and the man was charged with a sex crime then I am sure that no one here would defend him.

girl_in_tokyoToday 11:10 am JST

It really does boggle my mind how many men here are blaming a little girl for a grown man having sexual interest in her.

Little girls get crushes; they are flattered by attention. This is natural and normal. But a grown man looking at a 14 year old, sexualizing her, and taking advantage of her crush to groom her for a sexual relationship? 

Ridiculous comment, a 14 year old girl is a minor by law, but surely NOT 'a little girl' - often children of that age are taller than their mothers nowadays. The average height/weight of a Japanese 14 y/o girl is 5' 2" and 110 pounds.

girl_in_tokyoToday 10:55 am JST

Oh, I see. So this man spent time grooming this little girl and then brought her to his home because he didn't have any sexual interest her. Okay.

And all the men here who are downvoting my posts are not downvoting me because I am condemning pedophilia...

You have to inform yourself about what the word 'paedophilia' means.

Paedophilia is the sexual excitement from a person clearly past puberty (man or woman, gender irrelevant) towards any prepubescent person (boy or girl, gender irrelevant).

A healthy 14 y/o girl is a minor of course, but NOT a little girl (almost same height and weight as an adult) and surely not prepubescent.

girl_in_tokyo

Oh, I see. So this man spent time grooming this little girl and then brought her to his home because he didn't have any sexual interest her. Okay.

You do not know that he did that. It is possible, but the article does not say so, and from what it says it seems unlikely.

And all the men here who are downvoting my posts are not downvoting me because I am condemning pedophilia, but because ... well, some other reason. Hmm. Okay.

Oh come one. I do not condone that he invited her to Sapporo (he must have known she was 14), but please stop calling everything "pedophilia". Pedophilia means sexual attraction of prepubescent children, which is MUCH worse than this. 14-year old girls are not mature, but they are certainly not prepubescent children. If everything is "pedophilia", then nothing is. Do you not realize that you are trivializing the word?

In this “21st century”, for those that still think this relationship(?) is ‘acceptable’, would you honestly feel comfortable having this 36yo man, as your friend, perhaps staying the weekend in your guest room with his “minor” 14 yo girl ‘friend’? … Or, your family’s 36yo female ‘friend’ with her 14yo boy ‘friend’, for those want to ‘set the limit at pre-pubescence? -

snowymountainhell

In this “21st century”, for those that still think this relationship(?) is ‘acceptable’,

Not sure who you are talking about. Did anybody here say this relationship is acceptable? Or even suggest that we are looking at a "relationship"?

Nobody said ‘You’ but you’re injecting yourself into the scenario ? Why?

“Not sure who you are talking about. Did anybody here say this relationship is acceptable? Or even suggest that we are looking at a "relationship"? ” -

But, before you answer that, still waiting for you to respond to those previous posts @2:52 and @3:53pm. It’ll give you some more context about the current era we ALL live in NOW, regardless of countries, borders, cultures, customs, etc; however They may possibly trying to justify ‘it’. (Perhaps it’s not you, but the N. Am poster that started the deep dive into that topic hasn’t returned.)

snowymountainhellToday 10:12 pm JST

But, before you answer that, still waiting for you to respond to those previous posts ...

Not directed to me, but your comments are rather mixed up - far away from the reality of our daily life and filled up with stories out of fantasy. Up to you, but do not expect people to reply to you. There is no obligation to reply.

About this 36 y/o man und this 14 y/o girl I consider him to be an idiot. No excuse for what he did. He should be aware from the very beginning on that to travel with this minor age girl from Chiba to Hokkaido and to live together with her in his home over several days without consent of her parents is a crime - even if the girl might be the one who suggested it to him as a possible runaway.

In Japan the age of consent is low at 13, although some municipalities such as Tokyo prohibit sexual activity under 18 years old in most circumstances.

Try: all prefectures, rather than some municipalities. There is nowhere in Japan you can sleep with a 13 year old and not be arrested.

Not clear what ‘fantasies’ some may be pedoling here but, their unsolicited and unrelenting defenses of their possible, like-minded illk should make most reasonable readers uneasy: especially, their very-detailed descriptions of the appearances of minor adolescents and children. Seems like it may be part of a very odd & insidious minority that are trying to ‘normalize’ THEIRinterests in a specific types of interactions as the be ‘acceptable’ to the general public across the world. THEY desire to ‘groom’ both children and ‘immature’ minds that THEIR behaviors are ‘tolerable’ and ‘acceptable’. If someone is not part of ‘it’, then these observations about that specific, minority lurking in the shadows of society should’t disturb and cause others to defend it.

“According to police reports, Botani lured the girl from her home on August 1. He took her to his residence where he kept her until his arrest on Aug 6.” -