Former childcare worker who sexually assaulted seven of her pupils tells her victims’ families about her “empty apology.
The “heartbreaking anger” of the victim’s family
In the first part of the article, “[My daughter suddenly cried and screamed…] 27-year-old former child care worker sexually assaulted a preschooler,” the family of the child who was sexually assaulted by Nagumi Osada, 27, a former child care worker, expressed their unresolved anger.
The family of a child who was sexually assaulted by 27-year-old former nursery school teacher Nagumi Osada (27) expressed their anger.
Naginori Nagata, 27, a former child care worker, is accused of sexually assaulting a total of seven children (A-G in the order of indictment) at two day-care centers where she worked, and of filming the assaults, which included charges of sexual misconduct and violation of the Child Pornography Law.
At the 6th trial held on October 15 at the Tokyo District Court, the father of E-chan expressed his anger.
He said, “I did not see any remorse or apology from the defendant in the courtroom. After the defendant’s questioning, I felt hatred toward the defendant, his parents, his ex-wife who absconded with his assets, and the …… family.
I want the defendant to be castrated and never leave his cell for the rest of his life. We want our normal, everyday life back. I hope that the judges will take this into consideration when making their decision.
The prosecutor then read Ms. F.’s statement of opinion.
She stated, “Even now, several years after she was victimized, whenever the incident is brought up with her friends, my daughter still lives her life hiding the fact that she is the victim. At the time, she trusted the defendant so much that she was victimized, and she is worried that she was targeted because of her meekness.
At the trial, the defendant said that there was no particular reason why he targeted my daughter. I wonder what kind of feelings they had toward us parents at the day-care center while they were doing such terrible things to my daughter. It’s unbelievable.”
There was no indication that he was ready to face the situation.
He went on to say that from Nagata’s comments and demeanor at trial, “it did not appear that he was properly facing the case, the victims, or their families.
He continued, “I cannot believe that a defendant who turns a blind eye to the seriousness of his crimes will be rehabilitated and will not be likely to reoffend. I hope that the defendant will be punished severely so that he will never do the same thing again.
Finally, the attorney representing G’s guardians read a statement of opinion.
The attorney representing G’s parents read his statement: “Just as a crumpled piece of paper cannot be put back together, a psychological trauma can remain in the form of a memory for a long time. My daughter’s mind will never return to the way it was before the incident. Even if she can lead a peaceful life now, it may suddenly collapse 10 or 20 years later in the form of the onset of PTSD, and she will have to live with such a bomb for the rest of her life. The defendant has committed a crime that her daughter will have to live with for the rest of her life.
The statement of opinion referred to Nagata’s statement that she was a sex addict and was considering treatment, and stated that she wanted to be punished severely because she did not commit the crime because of her disease.
The defendant created the victim because of his extremely ugly personality, treating the child as if he were a tool, not because of his illness. I sincerely hope that such a convenient word as “sick” will not be used as an escape route for the defendant.
I hope that you will seriously consider once again the possibility of releasing such a person back into society and causing new victims. I strongly hope that the defendant will be punished so severely that he will never appear before us again and will never be allowed to appear in society again.”
He uttered an apology, but…
After the statements of opinion, the defense made its closing argument.
The prosecutor stated, “This is an extremely vile and malicious act that abused her position as a nursery school teacher, who is trusted by the children, and the negative impact it had on her mind and body is tremendous. He repeated the crime for a considerable period of time (approximately two years and three months), and there is a significant risk that he will commit the crime again.
On the other hand, his defense counsel hoped for a “lenient sentence” because there were extenuating circumstances, such as “he has written a letter of remorse and sincerely regrets his crime,” and “there is no possibility of recidivism as he is committed to treatment and has pledged not to work with juveniles in the future.
In his final statement, Nagata slowly walked to the witness stand and said as if he were trying to squeeze out a few words.
It is true that I turned innocent children into victims to satisfy my own selfish greed, and that I inflicted scars that will never disappear. It is also true that I have done nothing to compensate for the damage, etc., and this is due to my own lack of knowledge and naivete.
I am truly, and only sincerely sorry to the victims that I was a despicable criminal, and that is all I can say. I have no excuse for anything. I am truly sorry.”
When he finished his final statement, he sat down in the defendant’s chair as if he had collapsed. His face was flushed, and he looked down with a vacant stare.
I wonder if he was able to feel the gravity of his crime a little after the victim’s guardians had expressed their anger directly or in writing , telling him that they would never forgive him.
The verdict will be handed down on November 14.
Interview and text by: Ryo Nakahira