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Ex-Osaka cop accused of paying 6 school girls for sex

OSAKA (TR) – Investigative sources with the Osaka Prefectural Police on Thursday revealed that a former officer has been sent to prosecutors for paying six school girls for sex, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Sept. 17).

Between last December and April, Takahito Hashimoto, a 52-year-old former chief of a culture division, allegedly paid between 15,000 and 20,000 yen to the girls to engage in acts deemed obscene.

The six girls were in middle or high school. Hashimoto met them through a social networking service. He filmed the session with one girl on his smartphone, the sources said.

Police arrested Hashimoto three times on suspicion of violating the anti-child prositution and pornography law in June and July.

Hashimoto was sent to prosecutors on Thursday. He admits to the allegations, the sources said.

Takahito Hashimoto (Twitter)

Enjo kosai and papakatsu

According to the investigative sources, Hashimoto communicated with about 300 persons, including some adult women, via the networking service over several years. Many of them were from Osaka, Hyogo and Kyoto prefectures. For his account, he used a photograph of another man who is much younger.

Of that total, Hashimoto actually met about 160 of them. He engaged in relationships known as enjo kosai or papakatsu, whereby a man pays a woman for dates, with around 40.

Hashimoto was dismissed from his post on September 4.