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Man not prosecuted for allegedly keeping girl at hotel over 4-day weekend

SAITAMA (TR) – Prosecutors have announced the non-prosecution of a 22-year-old man who was accused of abducting a middle school girl he met online, reports Nippon News Network (Oct. 5).

Ginji Sato, of no known occupation, allegedly kept the girl at a hotel in Tokyo between September 19 and 23 while knowing she was a minor.

“I abducted her, but I thought she was 19,” the suspect told the Fukaya Police Station in partially denying the allegations upon his arrest.

On October 2, prosecutors with the Saitama District Public Prosecutor’s Office announced the non-prosecution of Sato. No reason for the non-prosecution was given.

Ginji Sato (Twitter)

According to police, Sato, a resident of Oita Prefecture, got to know the girl, who lives in Saitama, via social-networking service. “You want to meet, right? We can take a trip over the 4-day weekend,” he wrote to her in luring her out.

When the girl left her house, she said, “I am going to see grandpa.” After she failed to return, her mother alerted police at midnight on September 22.