HOKKAIDO (TR) – A former Hokkaido Prefectural Police lieutenant facing trial for allegedly molesting two young girls at a public swimming pool has died in an apparent suicide.
The development has led prosecutors to drop the case, court officials revealed, reports HNC News (Nov. 14).
The defendant, a former instructor at the Hokkaido Police Academy in his 40s, had been charged with non-consensual indecency. According to the indictment, the man molested two young girls he did not know while at a municipal pool facility in Sapporo on September 6, 2025.
Following an internal inquiry into the allegations, the officer resigned from the Hokkaido Prefectural Police. Prosecutors formally indicted him without arrest in August.
However, the Sapporo District Court officially dismissed the public prosecution on October 26 due to the death of the defendant. Under Japan’s Code of Criminal Procedure, courts are required to dismiss indictments if the accused passes away before a verdict is reached.
While the court did not disclose the date or official cause of death, investigative sources confirmed that the former officer is believed to have taken his own life.
