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Youngest Chiba councilor accused of paying girl, 13, for sex

Issei Miura
Chiba police have accused city councilor Issei Miura of paying a teenage girl for sex last year (Twitter)

CHIBA (TR) – Chiba Prefectural Police have arrested the prefecture’s youngest city councilor in its history for allegedly engaging in illicit acts with an underage girl last year, reports the Asahi Shimbun (June 26).

On September 8, Issei Miura, a 28-year-old councilman for Ichikawa City, allegedly paid 30,000 yen to the girl, then 13, to engage in acts deemed obscene at his residence, located in the Horinouchi area, while knowing she was a minor.

Miura, who has been accused of violating the anti-child prostitution law, denies the allegations, telling police he does not recall the incident.

The matter came to light after the mother of the girl contacted police in September. A search of the residence of the suspect in February revealed more than 10,000 video and image files on a computer whose content is believed to be child pornography.

Miura was first elected to office in April of 2015 as a member of what was then the Japan Innovation Party at the age of 26, the lowest age ever for a person to become a councilor in the prefecture.