MIYAGI (TR) – A court here handed a 51-year-old male employee of Kurihara City a suspended prison term for aattempting to grope the chest of a woman at an open-air hot spring bath in Osaki City.
On October 31, Furukawa Branch of the Sendai District Court handed down an 18-month term, suspended for three years, to the employee in the General Affairs Department’s Personnel Division.
Kurihara City moved swiftly following the ruling, dismissing the employee through disciplinary discharge.
According to the ruling, the employee reached around the woman, aged in her 50s, from behind and attempted to grope her chest in the mix-use bath at Naruko Onsen on July 9.
Kurihara City Mayor Satoshi Sato issued a sharp statement condemning the incident as “a serious human rights violation that trampled on the dignity of the victim,” adding that the city would work to ensure every employee reflects on his or her own conduct so as never again to betray the trust of residents.
According to the city, the disgraced employee expressed remorse, saying he was “deeply sorry for damaging and betraying the reputation of the city.”
