Even licked the saddle of a bicycle… Sadness of a 71-year-old man who was sentenced to 10 months in prison for stalking a junior high school girl.

He would leave the house on his bicycle very early in the morning, like 6:00 or 6:30 a.m. He was not working, so where was he going? I wondered where he was going, even though he wasn’t working. I watched him, hoping he wasn’t doing something strange again.” (Neighbor)

On November 30 of last year, the first trial for a case was quietly held at the Kawagoe branch of the Saitama District Court. It was the trial of Susumu Yasuda, 71, who was arrested on September 30 and charged with violation of the Law Concerning Regulation of Stalking and Other Related Acts.

According to the indictment, Yasuda developed romantic feelings for Ms. A, a junior high school girl, after greeting her on the street in early December 2009. He observed Ms. A’s junior high school and home from a distance, ambushed her on her way to school in the morning, and was even seen licking the saddle of her bicycle.

Despite receiving an order from the Saitama Prefectural Police in April 2010 forbidding him from stalking Ms. A, he was fined in August. This time, he was arrested for ambushing Ms. A every morning from September 27 to 30, at the time of her arrival at school. In fact, this is the fourth time he has been arrested. At the time of his arrest, he stated that he had feelings that A was cute and liked her, and that he wanted to see that girl.

The aforementioned neighbor said “again” because of “problematic behavior” that Yasuda has not been able to stop over the last 30 years.

He “just can’t stop exposing his lower body. He repeats this behavior whether he is caught or not; about five years ago, he was arrested for leaving a picture of his lower body in a women’s restroom in a park. I’ve seen the police staking out the area around my house on more than one occasion.”

A man of the same age who lives nearby also expressed his dismay: “When I was younger, I used to work like a normal person.

I think it was around the time I turned 40. In the evening, when it was time for the junior high school students to go home, they would go out on their bicycles. He would be wandering around on his bicycle with the lower half of his body exposed. That’s why I don’t go out with anyone anymore. When the lights go out in my house for a while, I just think, ‘Oh, he’s been caught again.

Yasuda is the second of three children. His parents and younger brother have both passed away, and he lives alone at home.

Yasuda, who appeared at his first trial wearing a gray sweatshirt and top and bottom, was about 165 cm tall with short gray hair. He was bent over at the waist and seemed to be unsteady on his feet.

At the trial, questions focused on one point: “Why can’t you stop stalking me?

The prosecutor said, “I interrogated you three times this year, and each time you said, ‘I will never do it again. I was even fined, and as expected, I thought I wouldn’t do it again. Why do you think you still did it?”

Yasuda: “I think I was naive to ask my brother to pay the fine.

Prosecutor: “Let me ask you again. What is the cause of such repetition?

Yasuda: “(After thinking for a while) I have an image of being cute. But I don’t think we should see each other anymore.”

The judge pointed out that it had only been about a month since he paid the fine in August, and then

Presiding Judge: “Did you have to forbid going there a little or put up with it or something?”

Yasuda: “Yes.

Judge: “But you couldn’t stand it any longer, so you went to see?”

Yasuda: “Yes, I thought if I went there, I would be able to see it for sure.

Your Honor “That’s no good, isn’t it? But you don’t know why you keep repeating it, do you?

Defendant Yasuda: “I had this feeling that I wanted to see him a little bit.”

When asked by the defense attorney, “Is it hard for you to be detained for over two months? Yasuda answered tearfully, “It’s hard. I will never do it again,” but there were no words of apology to Mr. A at all.

In her closing argument, the prosecutor stated that “Ms. A was at the age when she should be enjoying the joys of her innocent youth, but the defendant’s repeated stalking caused her emotional distress and damaged her memories of her youth,” and that “everyone in her family was worried that the defendant would escalate the situation and harm her further. The defendant was worried that he would escalate the situation and harm her further,” and asked for a one-year prison sentence.

The defense counsel said, “The defendant is aware of what he did and is sorry for what he did. We ask that you give him as lenient treatment as possible.

On December 21, Yasuda was sentenced to 10 months in prison.

In the end, Yasuda was unable to stop his stalking behavior until he was in prison. His only living relative, his older brother, had grown tired of his behavior and did not visit him even once.

With no one to turn to, we wondered if Yasuda would return to his parents’ house after his release from prison.
Neighbors said they spoke with Yasuda’s brother and told him, “We have no choice but to send him to an institution somewhere.