TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested a former employee of a child protection facility on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old high school girl who had sought refuge from an abusive home, reports Nippon News Network (May 27).
According to police, Kazuki Atami, a former staff member at a youth shelter in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward, is accused of sexually assaulting the teen at a hotel in Toshima Ward on April 9.
During police questioning, Atami admitted to the allegations.
Atami was employed at a facility contracted by a local child consultation center to house and protect minors fleeing parental abuse. Investigators allege that Atami used his position to initiate a romantic relationship with the vulnerable girl he met at the shelter before ultimately committing the assault.
Tokyo police are now expanding its investigation, operating under the suspicion that Atami may have repeatedly engaged in similar predatory acts against other children residing at the facility.
