Three men have been arrested on suspicion of extortion after they confronted a man leaving a hotel with a 16-year-old girl and demanded money from him.
Police said Ren Saito, 22, and two others, aged 18 and 17, are suspected of accosting the man in his 30s as he left the hotel in Toshima Ward, Tokyo, on Aug 4, 2025, TV Asahi reported.
According to police, the 16-year-old girl had invited the man — whom she met via social media — to the hotel.
After the pair left the hotel, one of the group, posing as the girl's boyfriend, confronted the man, demanding to know, "What are you doing with my girlfriend?" and steered him toward a nearby coffee shop.
Subsequently, Saito and the third suspect appeared, posing as individuals claiming to be knowledgeable about the law. They intimidated the man saying, "Generative AI research shows the settlement fee for non-consensual sexual intercourse is around 2 million yen," and forced him to sign a settlement agreement and pay 270,000 yen in cash.
Police said Saito has refused to speak until he consults with a lawyer.
The 16-year-old girl and the other minors have been referred to prosecutors.
Police believe the group repeatedly orchestrated "honey trap" schemes against men seeking paid sex, frequently rotating their members.
The girl would recruit men for prostitution via Instagram, go to a hotel with them, and engage in sexual acts. The scheme involved male accomplices — acting as her boyfriend — lying in wait for the men as they left the hotel.
© Japan Today
7 Comments
girl_in_tokyo
I have to say, it's well-deserved if he is looking to have sex with underage girls. I hope he is also prosecuted for statutory rape.
Harry_Gatto
The age of consent in Japan is 16 and as far as the statutory rape is concerned, this is not America, different country, different laws. Whether it is morally wrong is a different discussion.
They have been correctly charged with extortion, that's the law here.
Daninthepan
According to AI there are grounds for bringing charges against him but the police have to prove he knew she was under 18.
Let's hope so.
garypen
The national age of consent in Japan is 16. (It's 13, if the age difference is under 5 years.) So, as icky as it was, the man did not break the law, unless Tokyo has a higher age of consent as some prefectures have enacted above and beyond the national law.
girl_in_tokyo
If someone becomes a crime victim in the course of committing a crime, it’s hard to feel at all sorry for them, particularly in a case like this where their crime precipitated the second crime.
Paying an underage (under 18) girl for sex is a violation of the law against underage prostitution, on top of being immoral.
Grown men have no excuse for seeking out young girls for sex. It’s more than just immoral; it’s a violation of the trust put upon adults to care for young people - not try to have sex with them.
If you can’t look at this as a crime then I sincerely hope you don’t have daughters.
Wesley
Before all the misandrists come in here defending the girl, -- thanks to make-up, wigs and good nutrition, these days, a 16 yo girl doesn't look like a 16 yo.
Y'all honestly belief, when she first met the man, she said, "Hi, I'm Yuko. I'm only 16 years old"?
How naive can you be when it comes to how criminals think?
Speed
You're such a predictable poster.