YAMAGATA (TR) – Yamagata Prefectural Police believe a reporter for public broadcaster NHK in custody for an alleged rape last year was also behind several other similar incidents, reports TV Asahi (Feb. 7).
In the early morning of February 23, 2016, Yasutaka Tsurumoto, a 28-year-old reporter for an affiliate of NHK’s Yamagata Broadcasting Station in Sakata City, allegedly barged into the residence of the woman, aged in her 20s, and threatened, “Don’t make a sound or I’ll hurt you.” He then is alleged to have sexually assaulted her.
The woman, who was not acquainted with the suspect, suffered injuries that required two weeks to heal.
Tsurumoto has been charged with rape resulting in injury. He denies the charges, saying he does not know anything about the incident.
After graduating from Waseda University in 2011, Tsurumoto joined the public broadcaster in Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture. In July of 2015, he was transferred to the Yamagata Broadcasting Station. He moved to the affiliate in Sakata last year, according to Nikkan Gendai (Feb 6).
Police suspect that Tsurumoto was also responsible for a number of similar incidents that took place in the same general location and same time of day.
