NARA (TR) – Nara Prefectural Police have re-arrested a 45-year-old dispatch worker on suspicion of sexually assaulting and filming a disabled girl under the age of 13.
The arrest is his third arrest for preying on vulnerable individuals under his care, reports Mainichi Broadcasting System (Aug. 13).
Hideki Tachibana, a resident of Sakurai City, is accused of taking the young girl to his home while driving her from a Nara Prefecture support facility for disabled children at around 1:00 p.m. on January 25, 2023. Police allege that Tachibana sexually assaulted the child and recorded the act on video.
Upon questioning, Tachibana admitted to the allegations, police said. “I wanted to have sexual relations with the victim, so I engaged in sexual acts with her at my home,” the suspect said.
As the suspect stopped at his home while transporting the girl from her special needs school to the center, he told the facility that he would be “running a little behind schedule.”
First arrest in June
Tachibana was first arrested in June of this year for a sex crime targeting a person with a disability.
That initial charge was for non-consensual indecent acts; he was suspected of pressing his lower body against a female resident in her 40s inside a multi-purpose restroom at the same disability support facility at around 4:54 a.m. on June 15.
The woman has a severe intellectual disability, and the incident came to light after a facility staff member reported to the police that Tachibana had been “standing in close contact” with the female resident.
Seized smartphone
The suspect is also accused of lifting the clothing of another woman in her 40s — who has a severe intellectual disability — and photographing her chest and other areas inside the women’s restroom of the support facility at approximately 6:29 a.m. on August 11 of last year.
Following the first arrest, indecent videos were subsequently discovered on the smartphone seized from Tachibana at that time, which led to the later cases.
The investigation is expected to widen. Authorities discovered additional images of obscene acts saved on Tachibana’s smartphone, leading police to suspect he has committed further crimes against other individuals in his care.
