TOKYO (TR) – Law enforcement divisions in three prefectures have located three girls after they were allegedly abducted in separate incidents.
At around 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, Yoshimitsu Kawamura, a 23-year-old part-time employee, allegedly lured a girl, 11, into his vehicle in Nagoya while knowing she was a minor.
Aichi Prefectural Police arrested Kawamura, a resident of Tokyo’s Hino City, after he got into an accident in Naka Ward. At the time, the girl was in the passenger seat.
“She’s a relative,” Kawamura falsely told the Naka Police Station, according to the Mainichi Shimbun (Oct. 4). However, the girl, who lives in Nagoya, said, “I got to know him on a dating site.”
Upon his arrest, Kawamura denied the allegations. “Abduction was not my intention,” the suspect was quoted by police.
Shizuoka
The following day, Shizuoka Prefectural Police arrested Hidehito Yamamoto, a 53-year-old middle school teacher in Numazu City.
At the end of September, he allegedly abducted and confined a girl living in the eastern part of the prefecture inside his vehicle for an unspecified amount of time, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Oct. 5).
At some point after the abduction, a parent of the girl reported her missing to police.
Out of fear that the girl could be identified, police did not reveal the nature of the relationship between her and the suspect and details upon how she was abducted.
The Numazu City Board of Education said, “Since we put the safety of children as our top priority, [the incident] is extremely regrettable. With this [arrest] causing a significant loss of trust, we will confirm the facts and respond harshly.”
Yamagata
In the third case, Yamagata Prefectural Police arrested Motofusa Ishiwatari for allegedly abducting a girl from the Murayama area of the prefecture that he met on a social-networking service.
At around 9:00 p.m. on September 29, Ishiwatari, of no known occupation, allegedly used a vehicle driven by a male acquaintance to abduct the girl in Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture.
About two hours later, the girl was released at a convenience store in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward, according to the Sankei Shimbun (Oct. 5).
The girl was released unharmed. Police did not reveal whether Ishiwatari admits to the allegations.
On October 2, the girl appeared at a koban police box in Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture. “I was with a man,” she reportedly said in referring to Ishiwatari.
