TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a former employee of a facility for disabled children in Chiba Prefecture for allegedly sexually abusing a 5-year-old female pupil, reports TBS News (Apr. 13).
In February of last year, Takaya Goto, 46, is suspected of luring the 5-year-old girl, who attended the facility in Matsudo City, Chiba Prefecture, into his apartment and filming himself committing indecent acts with her.
Upon his arrest on suspicion of kidnapping for sexual purposes, sexual assault without consent and producing child pornography, Goto, who lives in Hachioji City, Tokyo, denied the charges. He said, “I don’t remember.”
Regarding a video of the girl that was found, he made the following statement: “I don’t really understand how this happened, and even after watching the video, I don’t understand why I took her home.”
20 years of experience
According to police, Goto was responsible for transporting the children as an employee. While transporting the girl alone in the facility’s vehicle, he allegedly lured her into a room in his apartment where he was living at the time and committed the crime.
During a search of his home by police, girls’ underwear and DVDs depicting sexual preferences towards children were seized.
Goto holds a kindergarten teacher’s license and a childcare worker’s qualification. He has worked with children in kindergartens and juku cram schools for nearly 20 years.
He began working at the facility for people with disabilities around June 2023. A former colleague said of Goto: “He was popular with the children and liked them well. He completed the tasks assigned to him, and never did anything he couldn’t do.”
The mother of the victimized girl said, “My daughter was 5 years old at the time, in the middle year of kindergarten. Even now, she can only communicate using simple words like ‘Daddy,’ ‘Mommy,’ ‘yes,’ and ‘I don’t like this.’ I think my daughter would definitely cry if she were taken to an unfamiliar place by a stranger, but she’s not crying in the video, so I think she trusted the staff and felt safe. I can’t forgive the perpetrator.”
During the investigation, obscene videos and photos of several girls who attended the same facility as the girl were found.
Police believe that Goto had been targeting disabled children and they are pursuing further charges.
