NAGANO (TR) – Nagano Prefectural Police have arrested a 34-year-old police officer on suspicion of non-consensual sexual intercourse with a teenage girl he met through a social media app, reports Nagano Broadcasting (Sep. 27).
The suspect, a senior police cfficer (junsa-cho) assigned to a police box under the jurisdiction of the Nagano Central Police Station, was taken into custody on September 27.
According to the prefectural police, the officer allegedly traveled to Miyagi Prefecture in June 2024 to meet the victim at a rental room. He is accused of engaging in obscene acts with the girl despite knowing she was under the age of 16 and more than five years his junior — meeting the legal threshold for statutory rape under revised Japanese law.
Investigators believe the pair first became acquainted through an SNS application before the officer made the trip to meet her in person.
The illicit rendezvous only emerged in July 2026, when the officer was brought in for questioning regarding an entirely separate disciplinary violation. Subsequent investigations led to his arrest last month.
The Nagano Prefectural Police force has been plagued by internal scandals, with five officers already facing disciplinary action in 2026 alone.
“It is truly regrettable at a time when our entire organization is working to prevent such incidents from recurring,” Chief Inspector Koichi Hameda said in a statement. “We will re-examine our organization, strictly enforce discipline, and strive to restore public trust.”
Prefectural police have stated they plan to hand down severe disciplinary measures based on the final results of the investigation.
