Teen turns trick for tobacco

A 41-year-old unemployed male has been arrested for providing a school girl with cigarettes in exchange for sexual services, according to Nikkan Gendai (Apr. 17). The girl had been unable to bypass increased measures intended to reduce teen smoking.

Tadao Komatsu and the girl, then a 15-year-old middle school student, became acquainted through a mobile phone site. In a parked car in an empty lot in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture on July 6 of 2008, the suspect handed over two packages of tobacco for sexual favors.

The TASPO system, which requires that an identification card be flashed before a sensor on cigarette vending machines before a purchase can be completed, was introduced on July 1 of last year to reduce access to cigarettes by minors.

Utsunomiya central police arrested Komatsu on child prostitution charges on April 15 in Tochigi City’s Nonakamachi district.

The girl, according to Nikkan Gendai, explained to Komatsu: “I cannot buy cigarettes.” (A.T.)

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