TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a manager at Japan Airlines for allegedly paying a female middle school student he met online for sex last year, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Apr. 17).
On September 15, Tatsuya Yokozeki, the 57-year-old head of the Operations Control division at JAL, allegedly paid 30,000 yen in cash to the girl to engage in acts deemed obscene at a hotel in Taito Ward while knowing she was a minor.
Immediately after his arrest, Yokozeki, who was accused of violating the anti-child prostitution law, denied the allegations. “I didn’t know her age,” the suspect was quoted by police.
However, the suspect later said, “I thought she might be under 18, but by that time we had already completed the act.”
The suspect got to know the girl via Twitter. Last October, the tweeted that she was interested in a relationship based on enjo kosai, or compensated dating. During the subsequent investigation, Yokozeki surfaced as a person of interest.
“We are confirming the facts of the case,” a representative of JAL was quoted.
