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Osaka tax official arrested for posting message that derailed train-groping fantasy

Yoji Isegawa
Yoji Isegawa
TOKYO (TR) – Wakayama Prefectural Police on Tuesday arrested a senior member of the Kainan office of the Osaka Regional Taxation Bureau for posting a message on a train-molestation bulletin board site that lead to an arrest in April, reports Nippon News Network (July 9).

Using the name Yui, the tax office employee, 49-year-old Yoji Isegawa, reportedly impersonated a woman seeking to be fondled inside a train carriage. The suspect has been charged with violating public nuisance ordinances.

On April 30 at around 7 a.m., Masaya Ogawa, a former nurse from Osaka, boarded the JR Wakayama Line at Kokawa Station and began touching the abdomen and buttocks of a 23-year-old woman.

At Wakayama Station, the train’s final stop, the victim seized Ogawa’s arm and handed him over to station personnel. He was later arrested.

Ogawa believed the woman in question had posted information regarding her seat number and appearance on a train-molestation site in an effort to recruit men interested in fondling her body. The victim denied making such a post. He was subsequently released since he was under the impression that the contact was consensual.

In June, police said that Isegawa had admitted to writing the message, and included descriptions of the victim’s clothing and general appearance.

Following his arrest on Tuesday, Isegawa reportedly admitted to the allegations, saying that he has regularly impersonated women on train-molestation sites.

“This is unbecoming behavior of a tax official,” said a representative from the Osaka Regional Taxation Bureau. “Based on the investigation of the judicial authorities, this matter will be dealt with in the most strict manner.”