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Le Velvets singer suspends musical activities over alleged illicit encounter with teen girl

Takuya Kurokawa
Kanagawa police have arrested Takuya Kurokawa over an alleged encounter with an underage girl at a hotel in Kawasaki City last year

KANAGAWA (TR) – Takuya Kurokawa, a singer in male vocal group Le Velvets, has suspended activities with the band following his arrest over an illicit encounter with an underage girl last year, the group’s agency said on Friday, reports Nippon News Network (June 15).

In a statement, agency SL-Company said that an investigation was underway to gather the facts related to the arrest of the musician. “Taking into account the weight of this incident, the activities of Takuya Kurokawa have been suspended indefinitely beginning on June 14,” the statement read.

On the night of September 27, Kurokawa, 32, allegedly paid 13,000 yen to the girl, 15 years of age at the time, to perform acts deemed obscene inside a hotel in Kawasaki City.

Kurokawa, who has been charged with violating the anti-child prostitution law, denies the allegations. “I went to the hotel but I do not recall what happened after that,” the suspect was quoted by police.

Kurokawa met the girl on a social-networking site in which he posted a message soliciting a relationship known as enjo kosai, or a compensated datej, according to TV Asahi (June 14). He emerged as a person of interest after police took the girl into protective custody in December of last year.

Kurokawa is a graduate of the Tokyo University of the Arts. A baritone, the suspect joined Le Velvets in 2008.

The quintet made its major-label debut with Warner Music Japan in 2012. The group is scheduled to play Bunkamura Orchard Hall on June 30 and July 14.