3 Minors Kidnapped Through SNS by Evil Men Who Abused and Treated Them Like Animals

“I wanted to talk to the girls. I wanted to let them play with my cat.”

The man who took the elementary school girls to his home reportedly explained his motive to the police.

On February 24, the Nerima Police Department of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department arrested Yu Suwamoto, 22, a private university student living in Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture, on suspicion of kidnapping a minor. The suspect solicited an elementary school girl, A, in Nerima-ku, Tokyo, via SNS, saying, “Let’s play at home.” He allegedly took her to his apartment between before noon and after 3:00 p.m.

The two met last fall. It was the first time they met on that day. In the afternoon, Ms. A’s parents contacted the police, saying, ‘Our daughter has not been going to school. Through a follow-up investigation that pieced together the security camera footage, it was discovered that Ms. A had taken the train alone to the suspect’s apartment.

Investigators visited the suspect’s home and caught him red-handed, and took Ms. A into custody. The suspect lives with his family, but was alone with Ms. A in his room at the time. He admitted to the investigation that he wanted to let her play with the cat and that there is no doubt that he took her home with him.

Collars and chains were put on the girls to prevent them from escaping.

While Mr. A’s case was resolved quickly, only about three hours after the family reported the incident, there was another kidnapping of a young girl that had tragic consequences: the trouble caused by defendant Hitoshi Ito, 38, of Oyama City, Tochigi Prefecture, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison by the Tokyo High Court on February 10. Judge Toru Miura declared, “It was a despicable crime that took advantage of the victim’s innocence.”

Ito is alleged to have kidnapped two girls in 19 years, junior high school student B (14 at the time) and elementary school student C (12 at the time), and repeatedly committed indecent acts. Ms. B, who lives in Ibaraki Prefecture, was abducted in May of the same year. She posted messages on a social networking service saying, “I’m going through a lot of bad things, I want to die,” and hinting at suicide. Mr. Ito replied that he would be her adviser and lured her to his home.

“Ito locked Ms. B up and began committing acts of violence and indecency. According to the prosecution, he repeatedly assaulted Ms. B, yelling at her and punching her in the face. ‘You want a master-servant relationship!　You want a relationship like an equal husband and wife!'” he said. When Ms. B was unable to resist, he had forced sexual intercourse with her for six months. It is said that he put a collar and chain on her so that she could not escape.

The second victim, Ms. C, disappeared in November 2019.

Ito sent her a direct message saying, “Please talk to the girl (Ms. B) who came to my house six months ago. When he invited her into his home, defendant Ito confiscated Ms. C’s phone and shoes. Ms. C, who panicked, rushed to a nearby police, and the incident was discovered.

The police investigation led to the discovery of Mr. B, who was also being held captive. At the trial, Ito made the following self-serving claim at the trial: “The girls had posted that they wanted to die, so I welcomed them into my home to protect their lives.”

Needless to say, accepting invitations on social networking sites comes with great danger. According to the National Police Agency, the number of kidnappings of minors via SNS increased by nearly 15% in 2021 compared to the previous year. The National Police Agency urges people to be careful and not to be fooled by the kind words.