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Akita researcher gets suspended sentence for stalking sex worker by car

The Akita University Graduate School of Engineering Science
The Akita University Graduate School of Engineering Science

AKITA (TR) –  The Akita District Court last week handed a suspended sentence to a 56-year-old researcher at an engineering school for stalking a sex worker by car earlier this year, reports the Sankei Shimbun (July 7).

On Thursday, presiding judge Takaaki Miura handed Hosei Komatsu, an expert in materials science technology at Akita University Graduate School of Engineering Science, a four-month prison sentence, suspended for three years, for stalking a female employee, aged in her 30s, at a soapland bathhouse.

On April 15, Komatsu followed the woman as she drove home from the bathhouse, located in the Omachi are of Akita City, to her residence, a distance of 30 kilometers. On the same day, he also posted photographs and information on the internet about the victim’s vehicle and what time she arrives for work at the bathhouse.

Komatsu had begun persistently stalking the woman in March. Later in April, the woman consulted with officers from the Akita Chuo Police Station. On April 21, police tailed Komatsu as he again followed her home. He was subsequently arrested for violating the Anti-Stalking Law.

According to the prosecution, Komatsu began visiting the soapland in the fall of last year. After becoming fond of the victim, he asked for her full name and address.

Komatsu has since been dismissed from his post at the university. Fumio Yamamoto, the president of the university, offered a deep apology for the matter, according to the Sankei. “We are taking this decisive verdict very seriously,” Yamaoto said.