TOKYO (TR) – Prosecutors formally indicted Japanese judo champion Masato Uchishiba on charges he raped a teenage student who was a member of the judo team at the school where he coached, Agence France-Presse reported.
Uchishiba, 33, who won two gold medals at the Beijing Olympics, was fired from his visiting professorship at Kyushu University of Nursing and Social Welfare last month after the school accused him of sexually harassing the girl after they had been drinking together at a Japanese-style pub, AFP said.
The public prosecutor’s office said in a statement the judo champion had sex with the girl at a Tokyo hotel on September 20, at a time when she was “unable to resist as she was in a profound sleep due to intoxication,” according to the news agency.
Police arrested Uchishiba three weeks ago; he denied the allegations and said the two had consensual intercourse. The identity of the girl has not been released because she is a minor. Uchishiba could face more than three years in prison if convicted.