Officers arrested two suspects, a 19-year-old girl from Tokyo’s Mitaka City and a male, also 19, from Machida City, for violating child welfare regulations and the Anti-Prostitution Law regarding coercion into obscene acts.
The male suspect admitted to having dispatched between four and five girls to waiting customers for sex, while the female suspect claimed to not know the ages of the prostitutes.
In one case, the suspects are accused of introducing a girl from Kawasaki City, then 16 years of age, to a 44-year-old male for an illicit encounter at a city hotel on February 28 of last year.
According to police, the Kawasaki prostitute serviced between 40 and 50 customers.
The ring charged customers between 15,000 and 18,000 yen per session, with 50 percent of the fees going to the suspects. Revenue for February and March of last year totaled 300,000 yen.
The suspects charged prostitutes who arrived late 1,000 yen per hour, while a 10,000-yen fine was applied to those who missed an entire day.
The ring recruited prostitutes on social-networking sites by posting messages targeting girls seeking part-time employment, while male customers were found on deai-kei “encounter” matchmaking sites.
