TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 37-year-old man for allegedly luring a 16-year-old runaway girl from the streets of the Kabukicho red-light district and keeping her at his home, reports TBS News (Apr. 16).
The man arrested on suspicion of kidnapping a minor is Ryuta Hashimoto, a 37-year-old employee of a hostess club.
Last August, he approached the girl on a street in Kabukicho and offered her a place to stay. He then kept her at his home for one month.
During questioning, Hashimoto reportedly confessed, “I approached her with the intention of picking her up.”
The crime came to light last September when the girl was apprehended in Kabukicho. At the time, she was found to be in possession of Hashimoto’s smartphone.
