KANAGAWA (TR) – Kanagawa Prefectural Police have arrested a 44-year-old male carpenter over the alleged attempted rape of a high school girl in Yokohama City’s Konan Ward earlier this year, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Sept. 17).
At around 8:45 a.m. on July 10, Chikara Maeda allegedly trespassed into the apartment of the girl, then 15, through the second-floor balcony and covered her eyes and nose. “If you make noise, I’ll kill you,” he reportedly threatened.
After the girl resisted the attack, Maeda fled the scene. The girl was not hurt in the incident, police said.
Maeda, who has been accused of attempted coerced intercourse, admits to the allegations. “On that day, I was irritated after losing at pachinko,” Maeda was quoted by police. “So I entered the residence for the purpose of sex.”
Prior to the incident, Maeda searched for women riding inside vehicles before spotting the girl out walking. He then followed her home, where she was alone.
Maeda became a person of interest in the case after an examination of security camera footage, police said.