KAGAWA (TR) — The Takamatsu District Court has sentenced a 56-year-old unemployed man to seven years and six months in prison for kidnapping and committing indecent acts on a 3-year-old child inside a restroom at a commercial facility, reports Kyodo News (May 12).
Kenji Okawa was found guilty of charges including kidnapping, confinement and violating the child prostitution and pornography ban law. Prosecutors had sought an eight-year prison term during the trial that concluded on Tuesday.
In a twist to the case, Okawa had initially managed to avoid criminal charges. Following the initial assault, he paid the victim’s family 2 million yen in a settlement, resulting in a suspension of indictment.
However, prosecutors reopened the investigation and filed new charges after discovering Okawa had brazenly posted illicit images of the toddler online.
According to the ruling, Okawa dragged the 3-year-old into a men’s restroom stall at the facility in 2020, where he committed the indecent acts and recorded the victim using his smartphone.
Despite having settled with the family, Okawa uploaded the images to an internet bulletin board in 2022. In 2024, he took it a step further by transmitting the photos to a third party via a messaging app, prompting authorities to rearrest him and bring the case to trial.
