SHIZUOKA (TR) – The vice principal of a middle school in Numazu City has admitted to sexually assaulting two girls after kidnapping them, reports the Yomiuri Shimbun (Dec. 22).
At the opening of his trial at the Numazu branch of the Shizuoka District Court on December 21, Hidehito Yamamoto, 53, admitted to allegations of kidnapping for the purpose of sexual assault and confinement.
According to the indictment, Yamamoto lured one of the girls into a rented vehicle on September 28 after asking for help with a bag.
After taping her mouth shut and binding her limbs with a rope, he took her to a mountain hut he owns in Numazu. He then trapped her inside a storage container before sexually assaulting her.
The second case, which involved another girl, took place in 2017. On August 2, he lured her a vehicle after falsely telling her that he had been in touch with her mother. He then bound her limbs with a rope and taped over her mouth before sexually assaulting her in Atami City.
At some point after the abduction in September, a parent of the girl reported her missing to police. During the investigation, police learned that Yamamoto used forged license plates on the rented vehicle.
In one of the cases, the defendant filmed the girl with his smartphone as she cried and begged to be released, the indictment said.
Naohide Kinae, the head of the Numazu City Board of Education, said, “We deeply apologize to the victims, their parents and the citizens of the prefecture. In order to prevent a recurrence, we will strive to maintain that faculty and staff adhere to strict rules.”
