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Tokyo cops: Man kidnapped girl, 4, at department store, molested her in toilet

Taro Sato
Taro Sato

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 36-year-old man for kidnapping a girl and molesting her in a department store toilet in Toshima Ward, reports TBS News (July 10).

At 2:30 p.m. on July 6, Taro Sato, a resident of Meguro Ward, allegedly lured the girl, 4, for a toy section at Tobu Department Store, located at JR Ikebukuro Station, and took her inside a men’s toilet. He then sexually abused her.

Sato admits to the allegations. “I have an interest in women so if one is there I want to tough her,” the suspect is quoted by police. “But I dislike adult women so I target young girls.”

The girl came to the store that day with her mother. Just prior to the incident, the mother and girl became separated. According to the Sankei Shimbun (July 10), the suspect took the girl to two toilets over a 10-minute period. He then left her outside one of the toilets.

The matter came to light after the girl returned home with her mother and said that a man “fondled the lower half” of her body.

Sato became a person of interest after an examination of security camera footage showed the girl being led to a toilet, according to TV Asahi (July 10).