KANAGAWA (TR) – Kanagawa Prefectural Police have arrested a 38-year-old man over the alleged abduction of a 9-year-old girl in Yokohama City last week, reports the Asahi Shimbun (Sept. 5).
At just past 3:00 a.m. on Saturday, police apprehended Akihito Otake, of no known occupation, as he departed his residence in Tokyo’s Katsushika Ward with the girl inside his vehicle.
The girl, a fourth-year elementary school student, was not hurt in the incident, police said.
Upon his arrest, Otake admitted to the allegations. He was sent to prosecutors on Sunday. “I got to know her via an online game,” the suspect said.
According to police, Otake abducted the girl from a street in Yokohama’s Aoba Ward while knowing she was a minor at around 4:00 p.m. on September 2.
Prior to the incident, the girl was playing at a park with several friends. “I’m going to meet a friend in Tokyo,” she told them before departing. When she did not return home by 5:00 p.m. that day, her mother alerted police.
Vehicle identified
An examination of security camera footage showed the girl on a kickboard walking with a man. In the footage, investigators were able to identify a vehicle.
On the night of September 4, officers staked out Otake’s residence, which had the interior lights on upon their arrival. They then noticed a man similar to the one seen in the footage arriving home alone.
When officers stopped his vehicle at the residence several hours later, the girl was in the back seat.
Police believe that the suspect and the girl arranged the meeting time and place via a voice function on the online game.