Former Principal Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison for Indecent Treatment of a Student
The crime was discovered by a police report.
The defendant is sentenced to nine years in prison.
On December 9, at the moment Judge Yasunobu Hosoya handed down the sentence, the defendant, Hisayoshi Kitamura (57), did not even move his body, just stared straight ahead.
Kitamura, a former principal of a junior high school in Tokyo’s Nerima Ward, had been accused of rape 14 years earlier for sexually assaulting and injuring a female student, Ms. A, who was his student at the time.
Kitamura was also accused of violating the Child Pornography Law by filming and storing the sexual assault of Ms. A and indecent acts toward another female student, Ms. B. However, because of the statute of limitations on indecent acts toward Ms. B, he was not charged with these crimes.
The case came to light when Mr. B consulted with the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education, saying that he had been sexually abused by Mr. Kitamura when he was in junior high school,” said Mr. Kitamura. When the police searched the principal’s office, they found a video camera in which sexual acts against Ms. A and Mr. B were filmed, leading to their arrest.
(A reporter for a national newspaper) “When Ms. B was about to graduate from junior high school, she asked the defendant to erase the video, and Kitamura said, “Okay,” and he agreed.
When I was informed that the evidence (indecent images) had been found in the principal’s office, I was filled with disbelief. At the same time, I felt a strong sense of disgust. I had summoned all the courage I could muster and asked the defendant to delete the images, but it was just a promise that he could easily break. I strongly felt that from the beginning, the defendant saw me only as a tool to satisfy his own desires.
‘I thought we were going out…’
During questioning of the defendant on November 28, Kitamura revealed that he had been examined at a medical center specializing in sexual disorders.
He said, “I don’t have a sexual disorder such as pedophilia that needs treatment, but rather a cognitive distortion caused by a combination of various stresses.”
He continued that because of his “distorted cognition,” he “fell in love with Ms. A as a woman and fell into the illusion of having a relationship with her, even though we were teacher and student.
In the year of Ms. A’s graduation, Ms. B entered the school in her place.
During questioning of the defendant, when asked by defense counsel, “What kind of student was Ms. B?
I felt as if Mr. A had reappeared because he looked exactly like Mr. A. I didn’t have a boyfriend like Mr. A, but I had a liking for him. And I felt that Mr. B also had a liking for me.”
Then, like Ms. A, Mr. B called her to Science Preparation Room No. 1 under the guise of “giving her a massage” and engaged in indecent acts with her. According to the defendant Kitamura, “‘Massage’ is a kind of cloak word for ‘sexual act,’ so to speak, and I thought I was sharing it with Ms. A and Ms. B.”
At the fourth trial on December 2, Mr. A and Ms. B appeared in court and each expressed their feelings.
Both of them claimed that they were still struggling with memories of the sexual assaults, and their statements were filled with strong anger toward Kitamura.
I told myself over and over again that I would persevere until graduation, but there were days when I went home crying, wondering why I was the only one who had to suffer like this, and feeling bitter and frustrated. The damage had an impact on my life.
For me, sexual intercourse was really painful because the memories of that time flickered in my mind. I had a long-time boyfriend, but I felt bad that I had to put up with him, so I ended up breaking up with him. Since then, I have lost interest in love and marriage. For the rest of my life, I have to live with these bad memories that I want to erase but cannot. No matter what sentence the defendant receives, my wounds will never heal.
Sneaky “muzzling”
I was called after school and indecently assaulted in the school building for about two years. It took me a very long time to realize that the damage I had suffered was a crime, so I was only charged with possession of child pornography. I thought about telling my mother a few times, but the pressure of being kept quiet by my teachers ultimately prevented me from doing so. I regret that I had not acted sooner before the statute of limitations expired.
I strongly resent the fact that the defendant enjoyed his life with the attitude that it was fine as long as his crime was not exposed, and that he had risen to the position of principal. I strongly hope that the defendant will receive a sentence that is not suspended” (Mr. B)
At the December 3 argument, the prosecutor asked for a sentence of 9 years in prison, while the defense asked for a suspended sentence, claiming that he was not guilty of “quasi-rape.
On December 9, the sentencing hearing was held.
The major point of contention was that “if she had not been injured, it would be a crime of quasi-rape and the statute of limitations would run,” but the trial judge found that “Ms. A was injured. The trial judge informed the defendant of the sentence and said, “I can’t adopt such an interpretation.
Even after the presiding judge delivered the sentence and stated that the defendant “escalated her acts against the background of her overwhelming superiority” and that “it is difficult in the first place for [junior high school girls] to confide in others, including their parents, about their sexual harm due to their sense of shame and remorse, ” Kitamura remained on the stand for a while.
What did the defendant, who used his overwhelming position to trample on the lives of Ms. A and Mr. B, think when he heard the verdict on the witness stand? No one knows what went through his mind.
In a related article, “[Sexual intercourse without contraceptives…] Former principal sexually assaults pupil, victim reveals ‘details of the crime that were too abnormal'”, Kitamura’s selfishness is reported in detail.
Interview and text： Nakahira Ryo Photo： Shinji Hasuo (2nd photo)
