AICHI (TR) – A court here last month ordered a man to pay a fine over repeated sexual abuse of his granddaughter. However, prosecutors previously dropped a criminal case against him, reports Kyodo News (Aug. 29).
At the Nagoya District Court on August 28, presiding judge Hiromi Takagi ordered the man, aged in his 60s, to pay of a fine of 1.1 million yen. The plaintiff had sought 5.5 million yen.
In handing down the ruling, the judge said that “the testimony of the plaintiff is credible.”
Between the winter of 2014 and the following April, the man touched the lower body of the plaintiff, then aged 14, while she lived with him in Kitanagoya City, according to the ruling and the plaintiff’s lawyer.
In January, 2016, the plaintiff consulted with a teacher at school about the matter. In March of that year, she began living with her mother.
During the trial, the plaintiff’s grandfather denied her claims. However, the judge said, “I cannot find a motive for her to make false claims.”
The ruling contradicts previous findings by prosecutors.
In August, 2017, a criminal complaint was lodged with police against the plaintiff’s grandfather. However, prosecutors did not prosecute him on suspicion of quasi-indecent assault and quasi-attempted rape the following July due to insufficient evidence.
The plaintiff’s lawyer said that the decision in the civil case “was compensation in line with the wishes” of the girl. “[We] asked that the claims of this courageous girl be heard,” her lawyer said.