CHIBA (TR) – “I was thinking about marrying her. I was planning to make some kind of move when she graduated from high school.”
The quote above is from the testimony of Jun Suminaka, a 41-year-old resident of Aichi Prefecture, during his trial for kidnapping a high school girl from Chiba Prefecture earlier this year, when she was 15 years old. He also told the court, “I was thinking about a future with her.”
Further details of his testimony are included in a report by Friday (Sep. 25), which documents one of his sexual encounters with the victim in which he convinces her to proceed without protection since she was “going to commit suicide anyway.”
Met on a chat app
On May 16, Chiba Prefectural Police arrested Suminaka for allegedly kidnapping the high school girl whom he met on a chat app.
The victim’s mother filed a missing person’s report on the night of May 13. Suminaka’s identity was later confirmed through security camera footage. While he was with the girl, they stayed a hotel.
On June 6, prosecutors indicted Suminaka on charges of kidnapping a minor. He was also later indicted twice on charges of non-consensual sexual intercourse and other crimes.
“Safe space for me”
The second hearing in this case was held at the Chiba District Court on September 9, where the defendant was questioned. In response to his defense attorney’s questions, Suminaka began explaining how he met the victim and how they became close.
“Around last summer, my boss changed at work, and my environment changed,” the defendant said. “I couldn’t keep up with the changes, and I worried every day that I would collapse if things continued like this. I started seeking advice from the company’s counseling center around the end of last year, but nothing changed.”
While struggling with relationships at work, he met the victim through a random chat.
“I met her in April of this year. We would talk about hobbies and such several times a day, but gradually our interactions increased. As our messaging increased, she started to rely on me, and even told me, ‘I want you to rely on me too.’
I was afraid of relying and showing my weaknesses, so I was worried at first. But as I gradually began to rely on her, [the space where we interacted] became a safe space for me.”
The two met for the first time in late April. She engaged in sexual activity that day.
“I’ll die with you”
The defense attorney asked, “There’s a significant age difference between you and her. What did you think about that?”
Suminaka answered, “Before and after meeting her, I was always worried about whether she would accept me. However, as we met and talked, she gradually began to move closer to me, so I began to think that she accepted me.
I was concerned about the legal implications of sexual intercourse, but I took action to see if my relationship with her was genuine.”
Suminaka began to think that he wanted to be with the victim forever.
His defense attorney mentioned that he had considered marriage and asked, “What did you think about your relationship with her?”
Suminaka said, “The children [of my wife and me] were still in school, so I was thinking about asking my wife for a divorce once things had settled down.”
Around that time, the victim was troubled by domestic issues and had even attempted suicide. When she told him she wanted to die, Suminaka encouraged her. “Try all sorts of things during your three years of high school and find your dreams,” he said. But he added, “If you feel like you’ve reached your limit, I’ll die with you.”
He then revealed his feelings at the time: “I myself had troubles at work and felt like I wanted to die. I was ready to accept death at any time. Of course, I understood that taking someone away without their parental consent was a crime.”
“Dedicate my life to her”
Then, on the morning of May 13, the victim cried during a call on the chat app Line. “I don’t want to go to school,” she said. Suminaka replied, “I’ll come and see you.”
He told the court, “I wanted to show my seriousness through my actions. I wanted to show that I was serious about dying. I called in to my company to take the day off and immediately boarded the Shinkansen for Tokyo. I didn’t have time to leave a note for my family, but when I left home, I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, and that I had escaped the responsibilities I was carrying.”
The prosecutor then asked, “What were you feeling when you headed for Tokyo on the morning of May 13?”
Suminaka claimed he headed there with extraordinary determination. He said, “I intended to dedicate my life to her.”
“Lacked consent”
After instructing the victim to turn off her mobile phone so her location would not be revealed, Suminaka also turned off his. He then headed to the meeting place, JR Akihabara Station.
After they met, they went to a nearby hotel to change, as she was wearing her school uniform. There, Suminaka immediately engaged in sexual intercourse with her.
The victim asked Suminaka to use contraception, but he refused, and the prosecutor pointed out that his failure to use contraception “lacked consent.”
“On May 13, after meeting up with the victim, the defendant attempted to have sex with her at a hotel near Akihabara Station. She asked for contraception, but he persuaded her that she was going to commit suicide anyway, so there was no need to worry about contraception, and they continued to have sex without contraception,” the prosecutor said.
After that, the two left the hotel and boarded a Shinkansen bullet train from JR Tokyo Station, heading for Sendai City.
The trial is ongoing.
