SAITAMA (TR) – Saitama Prefectural Police have arrested a 47-year-old man for allegedly kidnapping a teenage girl and holding her at his residence in Sakado City for nearly two months, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Nov. 4).
Between around September 9 and Tuesday, Noriaki Taguchi, a company employee, allegedly kept the girl, a resident of Miyazaki Prefecture, at his residence while knowing she was a minor.
Upon his arrest, Taguchi admitted to keeping the girl, but he added that it “was consensual.” He also said, “She ran away. I wanted to help.”
According to police, the suspect met the girl via a social-networking service. “If you can come to Saitama, it is fine,” he reportedly wrote in luring her.
The girl’s mother reported her missing with Miyazaki Prefectural Police on September 9.
Saitama police working off a tip from Miyazaki police found the girl at the residence on Monday. She was unharmed.
According to police, the girl was able to freely move around the residence.
