He Played the Hero, Then Turned Violent — The Itabashi Official’s Twisted Mask Slips After Arrest

He stated that the act was consensual

On September 29, Natsuhiko Yamada (37), an employee of the Itabashi Ward Office, was escorted out of the Kodaira Police Station for transfer to prosecutors after being arrested the previous day on suspicion of non-consensual sexual intercourse with a woman.

“According to the Metropolitan Police Department, around midnight on August 22, Yamada approached a female university student in her late teens on the platform of Kotesashi Station on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line, asking, ‘Did you oversleep?’ He then grabbed her hand, took her bag, and rode with her on a train to the station nearest her home. There, he reportedly told her, ‘Come sober up with me,’ led her to a secluded area, and sexually assaulted her. Immediately afterward, the woman ran to a nearby police box and filed a report. During questioning, Yamada admitted to committing indecent acts but partially denied the charges, saying, ‘The act was consensual.’” (National newspaper social affairs reporter)

This is not the first recent case involving a public servant accused of sexual assault. On August 13, the Kofu District Court sentenced a public employee from a care home in Minobu Town, Yamanashi Prefecture to three years in prisonfor sexually assaulting a female acquaintance in September last year.

“The man was accused of molesting a woman in her 40s while she slept beside him in a taxi, then assaulting her again on the street after they got out. Although a settlement had been reached with the victim, the court ruled the act to be persistent, despicable, and malicious, and handed down a three-year prison sentence.” (same reporter)

In another case this May, a Moriyama City employee in Shiga Prefecture (later dismissed) was arrested for sexually assaulting a high school girl on a JR Sagano Line train. He was charged with non-consensual sexual intercourse, and at his first trial on September 16 at the Kyoto District Court, he admitted to the charges, saying, “That’s correct.”Prosecutors have sought a five-year sentence, with the verdict scheduled for October 28.

Following Yamada’s arrest, Itabashi Ward Mayor Ken Sakamoto issued a statement on the ward’s official website:

“We deeply regret that one of our employees has been arrested. We sincerely apologize to the victim and to all residents of the ward. We are investigating the facts, and as those entrusted with public administration, we will respond resolutely to acts that betray public responsibility and ethics.”

When Yamada emerged from the police station building on September 29, he immediately crouched down upon noticing the press, shaking his head rapidly in all directions in an attempt to avoid being filmed. There was no visible sign of remorse or reflection in his demeanor.