HYOGO (TR) – A court here has handed the former director of an after-school facility in Kobe City a suspended prison term for assaults of a disabled girl earlier this year, reports Fuji News Network (Dec. 23).
At the Kobe District Court on Wednesday, presiding judge Fumiko Kokubun handed Kiyoshi Toshima a one-year prison term, suspended for three years.
According to the indictment, Toshima repeatedly grabbed the girl by the chin and slapped her in the face and arm as she commuted to Hoaloha, located in Kita Ward.
The girl, a third-year middle school student, suffers from physical and intellectual disabilities. At the time of the incidents, Toshima was the director of the facility.
“As the manager, you were in a position to understand the girl’s situation,” judge Kokubun said. “Making the victim, who cannot defend herself or lodge a report due her disabilities, do as you say through violence is lazy and mean.”
In handing down the judgment, the judge took into account that Toshima was “reflecting” upon his actions and has since closed Hoaloha.
