TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a 50-year-old man over the alleged abduction of a middle school girl in order to molest her last month, reports TBS News (Aug. 21).
At just before 10:00 p.m. on July 9, Shinji Watanabe, a company employee, lured the girl, 14, into his minivan on a road in Musashimurayama City. “Get inside — there’s something I’d like to discuss,” he reportedly said.
Watanabe then pulled the van into a nearby parking lot. “Touch my lower body,” he then instructed her.
After the girl refused, she exited the vehicle, according to the Higashiyamato Police Station.
“There’s no question that I abducted [her], but carrying out obscene acts was not my motive,” the suspect was quoted by police in partially denying the allegations.
Police are investigating whether Watanabe was behind 10 similar incidents that have taken place in the area since the end of May.
