Defendant Confesses to Unprotected Sex—But His Words Reveal a Disturbing Lingering Attachment

There is nothing in the motive that warrants any leniency

“I’ll throw everything away and come see you.”

A verdict has been handed down for Jun Suminaka (41), who took a suicidal high school girl, A (then 15), saying “Let’s die together,” and kept her with him for four days. Suminaka was charged with kidnapping a minor and non-consensual sexual acts.

At the sentencing hearing held on October 27 at the Chiba District Court, Presiding Judge Shu Mizukami stated that “there is nothing in his selfish and self-centered motive that merits consideration” and sentenced him to five years in prison (the prosecution had sought six years).

Suminaka and A met through a chat app in early April of this year. Troubled by relationships at school and at home, A had said she wanted to die. Suminaka urged her, “Let’s die together,” and the two reportedly planned to commit suicide.

Suminaka himself had been troubled by difficulties at work and at home and said he felt, “I don’t care if I die anytime.” Claiming he and A were in a romantic relationship, he testified in court:

“(A) was a place where I felt I could express my weaknesses. I was thinking that eventually I wanted to marry her, and that when she graduated from high school, I would take some kind of action. When I said ‘Let’s die together,’ I meant ‘Let’s be together until death.’”

However, when asked, “Did you take any concrete steps toward divorce?” he answered:

“I planned to bring it up with my wife once things like our children’s schooling had settled down.”

He did not use contraception even after giving up on suicide

On the morning of May 13, around 7 a.m., during a LINE call they had kept connected, A said, “I can’t take it anymore, I want to die.” In response, Suminaka told her, as in the opening quote, “I’ll throw everything away and come see you,” called his workplace to take the day off, and immediately headed by Shinkansen to their meeting spot, Akihabara Station.

After meeting A, Suminaka went with her directly to Sendai and stayed overnight. The next day, the 14th, they traveled to Aomori. Then on the afternoon of the 15th, they visited Jogakura Bridge (Aomori City), which they had chosen as their suicide spot. Looking down from the railing and about to jump, Suminaka recounted in court—sobbing—what happened:

“I didn’t feel scared at all when I looked down. But A said she was scared. She said she didn’t want to die, so we moved back to the parking area. Then A said, ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t die. I’m sorry I didn’t have the will to die.’ I told her, ‘Because you felt that way, we’re alive like this.’”

The two left Jogakura Bridge and stayed in Aomori City that night. The next afternoon, on the 16th, Suminaka was arrested in Aomori City.

While taking A around with him, Suminaka had sexual intercourse with her at the hotels where they stayed, without using contraception. Even after they abandoned their suicide plan, he again had intercourse without using contraception.

Presiding Judge Mizukami also addressed Suminaka’s failure to use contraception when explaining the sentence:

“The defendant repeatedly engaged in sexual intercourse driven by his own sexual desire with a victim who was immature in her ability to make autonomous sexual decisions and lacked sufficient judgment. Although the victim expressed discomfort at the defendant’s refusal to use contraception, he said things like, ‘We’re going to die anyway, so there’s no need for contraception,’ and proceeded without using it. The degree of infringement on the victim’s sexual freedom is significant, and there is concern about the negative impact on her future healthy development.”

He didn’t look remorseful to me

Right after his arrest, Suminaka had stated, “I don’t want to deny these four days. I don’t regret it, I’m not reflecting on it.” Later, after spending time alone in solitary confinement facing himself, he said he came to think that by telling A, “I’ll die with you,” he may have intensified her suicidal thoughts.

During the trial, Suminaka repeatedly said, “I think I was wrong,” and offered apologies.

However, the mother of A, watching him speak words of remorse and apology in court, could not accept them at face value. In her victim impact statement, she wrote:

“Although he stated in court that he was, at least on the surface, reflecting on his actions, he did not appear to me to be sincerely remorseful. His words sounded as though he saw himself in a tragic position, as if he were the protagonist of some story.”

During the defendant questioning, when the victim’s attorney asked, “Do you still have romantic feelings toward A?” Suminaka, barely audible, answered, “I do.” He then added, “I swear I will never initiate contact with her.”

But when asked, “What would you do if A contacted you?” he remained silent.

Somewhere in his heart, is he hoping A might contact him again? Perhaps Suminaka is still dreaming of continuing those four days.

Unless he files an appeal, Suminaka will soon begin his life in prison.

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